SKETCHES  OF  THE  LIFE  AND 
CORRESPONDENCE  OF 
NATHANIEL  GREENE 
Volume  1 

William  Johnson 


Published  on  demand  by 

UNIVERSITY  MICROFILMS 

University  Microfilms  Limited,  High  Wycomb,  England 
A  Xerox  Company ,  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  U.S.A. 


*  *  * 

This  is  an  authorized  facsimile  of  the  original  book,  and  was 
produced  in  1969  by  microfilm-xerography  by  University 
Microfilms,  A  Xerox  Company,  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  U.S.A. 

*   *   * 


A    //X 
•I*?         '//, 


ES  \U 


OF    THE 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


OF 


MAJOR  GE.NEUAL,  OF  TUE  ARMIES  OF  TUE  VW1TED  STATES, 


tljt 


of 


COMPILED  CHIEFLY  FROM  ORIGINAL  MATERIALS. 


BY  WILLIAM  JOHNSON. 

//_  > 

OF  CHARLESTON*  SOUTH-CAROLINA. 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES, 


VOL  L 


CHARLESTON : 
PRINTED  FOR  THE  AUTHOR,  BY  A.  E.  MILLER. 

•0.   4,   B£^AI>-STREJ-T,    HEAR   TUE    BAT. 

1822. 


LOAN  STACK 


IN;  AT  HA  IN:  I  K 1.     G  PL  K  E  ^  K  , 


'%*.,.,6.-  '/^rf,,w,t.',//S/««,.S- r£x.J- 

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/;>:,"/.,  if  /, 


v  H.  \'\  ^..- 


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District  of  South-Carolina. 

BE  it  Remembered,  that  on  the  twentieth  day  of  November,  Anno  Domini,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-one,  and  in  the  forty-sixth  year  of  the  Independence 
Of   the  United  States  of  America,  the  Honorable  WILLIAM  JOHNSON,  one  of  the  Asso 
ciate  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  deposited  in  this  Office,  the  title  of  a  book, 

the  right  whereof  he  claims  as  author  and  proprietor,  in  the  words  following,  to  wit : 

• 
* 

"  Sketches  of  the  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Nathanael  Greene,  Major  General  of  the  Armies 
«  of  the  United  States,  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  compiled  chiefly  from  original  materials.  By 
"  William  Johnson,  of  Charleston,  South-Carolina." 

In  conformity  to  the  Act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled  "An  Act  for  the  encourage 
ment  of  learning,  by  securing  the  Copies  of  Maps,  Charts  and  Books,  to  the  Authors  and  Proprietors  of 
such  copies  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,"  and  also,  to  the  act  entitled  "  An  Act  supplemen 
tary  to  an  act  entitled, '  An  Act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  Maps, 
Charts  and  Books,  to  the  Authors  and  Proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  men 
tioned,'  and  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  art  of  designing,  engraving  and  etching  historical 
and  other  prints." 

JAMES  JERVEY, 
District  Clerk.  South-Carolina  District. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

HAVING  recently  ascertained,  from  the  evidence  of  several  highly  respect 
able  characters,  that  I  have  been  led  into  an  error  in  naming  Mr.  Wilson  of 
Pennsylvania  as  one  of  the  cabal  opposed  to  General  Washington;  in  justice 
to  his  memory  and  my  own  feelings  I  acknowledge  the  error,  and  express  my 
extreme  regret  at  having  committed  it. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


. 

». 


TO 


OF    THE 


trtejjcctfttUjj 


BY  one,  who,  in  humility,  acknowledges,  that  exalted  as 
had  been  his  previous  admiration  of  their  worth  and  services, 
he  had  formed  but  a  faint  idea  of  their  virtues  and  sufferings, 
until  drawn  to  the  study  of  their  actions  in  the  unaffected 
narrative  and  unquestionable  authority  of  their  own  corres 
pondence. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


Ti 
HE  author  who  lays  claim  to  the   advantages  of  original  materials,  owes  to  the  world 

explanation  of  the  nature  and  authenticity  of  the  documents,  upon  which  he  rests  this  demand  upon 
public  confidence. 

Some  years  since,  I  was  consulted  by  Mrs.  Shaw,  the  youngest  daughter  and  administratrix  of 
General  Greene,  on  the  manner  in  which  she  should  dispose  of  her  father's  original  papers.  Until 
that  time,  I  had  never  understood  that  they  had  been  preserved.  For  the  first  time,  I  learnt  that 
they^had  been  carefully  husbanded,  and  never  yet  submitted  to  the  examination  of  any  one,  with  a  view 
either  to  add  to  the  materials  of  general  history,  or  furnish  those  of  a  biography  of  the  great  man, 
who  had  bequeathed  them  to  posterity.  Nor  had  I,  until  then,  been  struck  with  the  fact,  that  his 
biography  had  never  been  attempted,  nor  his  name  even  mentioned  in  the  cyclopedias  of  the  day. 
I  therefore,  suggested  to  Mrs.  Shaw,  that  if  she  approved  of  my  undertaking  the  biography  of  her 
father,  I  would  take  the  papers  under  my  care,  and  examine  how  far  they  afforded  the  necessary 
materials  for  such  an  undertaking.  The  proposal  was  readily  assented  to,  and  she  soon  after  forwarded 
to  me  a  large  collection  of  letters,  containing  his  private  correspondence ;  and  addressed  a  letter  to  General 
Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  requesting  him  to  deliver  me  the  trunk  containing  the  official  papers 
of  the  southern  department,  whilst  General  Greene  was  in  command.  The  latter  were  immediately 
delivered  up  to  me,  and  I  found  them  in  the  highest  state  of  preservation  and  arrangement.  It 
appears,  that  on  disbanding  the  army,  these  papers  had  been  committed  to  the  care  of  the  late  Major 
Edward  Rutledge.  After  the  decease  of  Major  Rutledge,  the  papers  passed  into  the  hands  of  his 
son  and  executor  Henry  Rutledge,  Esq.  at  present,  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  by  whom,  on  his 
leaving  this  State,  they  were  consigned  to  the  care  of  General  Pinckney.  These  two  collections  of 
papers  consisting  of  several  thousand,  had  obviously  been  preserved  with  great  care,  and  the  motive 
-became  explained  in  the  course  of  examining  them. 

It  is  well  known  to  many  eminent  men,  that  the  late  Governor  Read  of  Pennsylvania,  contem 
plated  writing  a  history  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  As  he  was  among  the  most  intimate  and  valued 
friends  of  General  Greene,  he  had  requested  of  the  latter  to  preserve  for  him,  every  tiling  that  could 
assist  him  in  the  undertaking.  This  has  been  gladly  complied  with,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
when  General  Greene  had  resolved  to  establish  himself  in  Georgia,  and  General  Wayne  had  actually 
seated  himself  down  beside  him,  Governor  Read  contemplated  establishing  himself  in  their  neigh 
bourhood.  Both  Greone  and  Road  were  cut  oflf  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  thus  has  the  world  been 


vi.  PREFACE. 

deprived  of  such  a  history  of  the  Revolution,  as  we   can  no  longer  hope  ever  to  have.     For  it 
cannot  be  denied,  that  there  exists  a  considerable  defect  in  all  the  histories  of  that  period,  that 
have  been  as  yet  writteu.     For,  although,  the  military  and  more  public  events  may  have  been  accu- 
»  rately  narrated,  the  intrigues  that  agitated  Congress,  and  a  variety  of  events  explanatory  of  their 

acts  and  their  errors,  which  transpired  with  closed  doors,  or  out  of  doors,  remain  in  utter 
obscurity.  Of  all  these,  Mr.  Read  could  have  furnished  the  most  perfect  narrative,  and  of  all  mili 
tary  events  the  illustrious  trio  that  would  then  have  graced  the  banks  of  the  Savannah  River,  could 
not  have  been  surpassed. 

With  regard  to  that  part  of  those  events  in  which  General  Greene  was  himself  an  actor,  there  is 
the  fullest  evidence  that  it  was  his  intention  to  give  to  the  world  an  exposition  of  the  causes  and 
motives  that  governed  his  actions.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  John  Adams,  of  the  28th  of  January,  1781, 
he  writes  thu-j  :  "  the  American  armies  have  gained  some  advantage ;  my  public  letters  will  have 
given  you  some  idea  of  them,  but  the  previous  measures  which  led  to  important  events,  and  my 
reasons  for  those  measures  must  lie  in  the  dark  until  a  more  leisure  hour.  The  people  are  deter 
mined  to  defend  themselves  from  age  to  age,  rather  than  give  up  their  independence." 

It  is  not  material  to  explain,  though  there  is  no  difficulty  in  doing  it,  why  these  papers  were  never 
brought  to  public  notice,  after  the  death  of  General  Greene.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  much  time  was 
necessarily  consumed,  after  they  came  into  my  possession,  in  perusing  them,  and  making  my  extracts 
from  them.  But  after  surmounting  this  labour,  I  found  that  there  was  a  considerable  space  yet  to  be 
filled  up,  and  for  which  the  materials  could  only  be  found  among  his  early  friends,  and  in  the  country 
in  which  he  passed  his  early  life,  and  acted  during  the  greatest  part  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 

This  made  a  trip  to  Rhode-Island  indispensable;  and  during  the  summer  of  1818,  I  was  occupied 
in  exploring  the  private  cabinets  of  his  friends,  in  the  northern  and  eastern  states. 

It  is  impossible  to  express  my  sense  of  the  polite  attention,  which  I  received  from  the  friends  and 

.  admirers  of  General  Greene,  during  these  researches.     The  intelligence  had  preceded  me,  that  I  was 

collecting  materials  for  the  Biography  of  General  Greene,  'and  original  documents  were  showered 

upon  me  from  all  quarters,  while  his  friends  showed  themselves  ever  ready  to  listen  to,  and  satisfy 

all  those  explanatory  inquiries,  which  the  materials  already  in  my  hands  suggested. 

I  found  that  the  general's  early  correspondence  had  been  religiously  preserved,  and  that  various 
small  collections  of  historical  materials  had  been  made,  which  were  now  liberally  communicated  to 
me,  to  aid  in  a  work,  in  the  promotion  of  which  every  one  manifested  an  individual  interest.  I  must 
here  express  my  sense  of  the  kind  attentions  of  General  Gibbes,  at  present  Governor  Gibbes,  of  Rhodc- 
Island,  of  his  brother,  Colonel  Gibbes,  of  Long-Island,  and  of  the  surviving  brothers  and  nephews 
of  General  Greene ;  also,  of  his  two  early  friends,  Colonel  Ward  and  General  Varuum,  who  had 
passed  their  youth  in  habits  of  unrestrained  intimacy  with  the  subject  of  these  Sketches,  and  could 
furnish  of  him,  what  may  be  called,  the  delineations  of  the  heart. 

Whilst  in  New-York,  I  had  several  conferrenccs  with  the  late  Judge  Pendleton,  with  whom,  I  had 
previously  corresponded  on  the  subject.  He  had  himself  intended  to  undertake  the  work  now  sub 
mitted  to  the  public ;  and  being  among  the  few  who  were  acquainted  with  the  existence  of  the  mate 
rials  for  such  an  undertaking,  in  the  possession  of  the  family,  he  had  made  application  to  the 
executrix  for  them.  This  he  h  id  communicated  to  me  through  a  friend,  and  I  readily  lent  my  influ 
ence  to  obtain  her  consent,  and  offrred  to  decline  it  in  his  favour.  But  there  existed  private  reasons, 
which  I  wis  not  then  apprized  of,  for  her  declining  to  assent  to  this  request. 

Mr.  Pendletdn  possessed  many  advantages  for  entering  upon  this  undertaking.  He  had  been  in 
the  general's  family  from  the  time  of  hi.s  taking  command  of  the  southern  department,  to  the  termina- 


PREFACE.  vu. 

lion  of  tbe  war ;  and  having  established  himself  in  Savannah,  lived  on  the  most  confidential  footing 
with  him,  to  the  close  of  his  life.  He  was  among  the  afflicted  group  who  surrounded  him  in  his  last 
moments. 

Having  too  high  a  sense  of  honour  to  attempt  the  undertaking  without  the  assent  of  the  family,  as 
well  as  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  impracticability  of  effecting  it  without  the  papers  in  their  posses 
sion,  with  a  liberality,  which  I  gratefully  record,  he  from  that  time  made  the  most  cordial  efforts  in  as 
sisting  me  with  all  the  minute  and  interesting  information  which  his  o\vn  memory  and  researches 
could  accumulate.  And  to  him,  I  am  indebted  for  many  pages  of  original  information. 

As  I  knew  from  corresponding  with  some  of  my  friends,  that  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  were  rich 
in  the  materials  that  I  sought  for,  my  steps  were  next  directed  to  the  former  place.  And  I  was  richly 
rewarded  for  the  journey.  From  my  friends  Mr.  Joseph  Read,  and  the  relatives  of  the  late  Colonel 
Petit,  I  was  favoured  with  a  large  collection  of  the  most  interesting  original  documents,  and  among 
them  the  outlines  of  the  Biography  of  Greene,  sketched  by  Mr.  Read's  father.  To  their  politeness, 
also,  I  was  indebted  for  an  introduction  to  the  widow  of  General  Harmar,  and  from  her  I  received  a 
document  of  a  veryjcurious  and  interesting  character.  General  Harmar  was  a  colonel  in  the  Pennsyl 
vania  line,  and  marched  with  his  command,  under  Wayne,  to  reinforce  the  southern  army.  This 
march,  it  will  be  recollected,  was  full  of  interest,  as  the  Pennsylvania  line  was  arrested  in  its  progress, 
first  to  re-enforce  La  Fayette,  (then  retreating  before  Lord  Corn \vallis)  and  afterwards  to  assist  in  the 
reduction  of  York  Town.  It  then  joined  the  southern  army  at  the  Round-0,  and  Colonel  Harmar 
succeeded  Colonel  Otho  Williams,  as  adjutant  general  of  the  southern  army  ;  in  which  capacity,  the 
former  remained  until  near  the  close  of  the  war.  During  all  this  time,  General  (then  colonel)  Harmar' 
kept  a  journal,  which,  with  a  most  authentic  record  of  facts,  combines  innumerable  remarks,  emanat 
ing  from  an  acute  and  luminous  mind.  This  was  liberally  confided  to  my  hands,  and  has  often  been 
referred  to,  in  aid  of  his  orderly  books,  which  follow  those  of  Colonel  A\  illiams,  in  succeession,  to  the 
disbanding  of  the  army. 

Hitherto,  every  aid  was  gratuitous  ;  every  communication  dictated,  by  a  patriotic  desire  to  aid  an 
individual  who  was  known  to  have  no  pecuniary  motive,  in  an  effort  to  do  justice  to  the  reputation  of 
one  whom  all  delighted  to  honour,  out,  whilst  in  Philadelphia,  my  attention  was  directed  to  a  collec 
tion  of  papers,  which  were  offered  me  for  sale.  A  Mr.  De  Silver  was  at  that  time  advertising  a  pros 
pectus  of  a  life  of  General  Greene,  from  original  materials.  These  materials  were  offered  me  for  the 
sum  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  which  was,  I  believe,  afterwards  reduced  to  one  thousand.  But  in  my 
bargain  was  to  be  included,  the  advantage  of  not  having  my  pecuniary,  or  other  views  anticipated,  by 
a  rival  publication.  I  had  previously  corresponded  with  my  friends  Mr.  Read  and  Mr.  John  Vaughn, 
oji  the  subject  of  these  papers,  and  from  the  first  moment  positively  declined  any  interference  to  prevent 
a  publication,  the  loss  of  which  to  the  world,  I  did  not  choose  to  assume  the  responsibility  of;  and  as  to 
purchasing  materials  for  my  Biography,  I  should  as  soon  have  expected  *o  purchase  air,  or  fire ;  yet, 
if  necessary,  to  enable  me  to  do  justice  to  the  undertaking  I  had  entered  upon,  I  had  no  objection  to 
incur  any  incidental  expense.  I  therefore  cast  my  eye  over  a  few  of  the  papers,  and  soon  discovered, 
what  I  had  previously  suspected,  that  they  were  only  the  vouchers  of  the  quarter  master  general's  de 
partment,  preserved  by  Colonel  Petit,  to  support  him  in  a  settlement  «vith  the  treasury  department  of 
the  United  States.  As  all  the  private  and  confidential  letters  between  General  Greene  and  Colonel 
Petit  were  already  in  my  possession,  I  could  very  well  dispense  with  such  as  merely  contained  orders 
fora  penknife  or  a  packsaddle;  but  still  as  my  friend  Mr.  Vaughn,  the  indefatigable  perveyor  of 
science  and  philanthrophy,  expressed  a  wish  to  g^et  them  into  his  possession,  and  I  was  apprehensive 
that  a  book  written  on  such  materials  would  be  no  great  acquisition  to  the  republic  of  letters,  I  autho 
rised  my  friends  to  offer  Mr.  Do  Silver  a  respectable  number  of  copies  of  my  work,  merely  to  indite^ 


PREFACE. 

hkii  to  deliver  up  the  papers,  to  be  deposited  in  Mr.  Vaughn's  hands.  The  ofTer  was  rejected,  rmd  I 
have  never  regretted  if;  notwithstanding  that  it  was  accompanied  with  a  threat,  that  I  should  be  antici 
pated  in  the  book-market.  If  ever  that  collection  of  papers  has  furnished,  or  shall  furnish  to  the  world 
one  page  of  history  or  biography,  (unless  it  be  a  fac-simile  page)  I  shall  acknowledge  my  error  in  not 
possessing  myself  of  them.  Yet,  it  has  been  asserted,  that  it  was  impossible,  for  the  Biography  of 
Greene  to  be  written  without  them. 

It  is  proper  here  to  observe,  that  the  respectable  descendants  of  Colonel  Petit,  are  in  no  wise  respon* 
sible  for  what  transpired  relative  to  those  papers.  They,  it  seems,  after  the  trunk  containing  them 
had  lumbered  the  garrets  of  three  generations,  had  disposed  of  them  as  waste  paper  ;  from  which  fate, 
they  were  rescued,  by  the  laudable  zeal  of  Mr.  De  Silver. 

My  journey  to  Baltimore,  consummated  my  collection  of  materials.  The  sons  of  Colonel  Otho 
Williams,  through  the  polite  agency  of  Mr.  John  Oliver,  put  me  in  possession  of  their  father's  papers, 
and  from  these  I  have  collected  some  of  the  most  interesting  facts  narrated  in  this  work,  and  have 
been  enabled  I  hope,  to  shed  some  light  upon  characters,  which  Maryland  has  much  reason,  to  be 
proud  of.  Before  I  entered  upon  this  undertaking,  I  was  almost  ignorant  of  Colonel  William's  cha 
racter,  but  I  rave  met  with  no  one  in  the  course  of  my  investigations,  that  has  interested  me  more.  He 
did  not  survive  the  revolution  long  enough  to  have  his  merits  engraven  on  our  recollection  by  the 
association  of  memory.  He  retired  not  from  service  while  the  tug  of  war  lasted,  but  as  soon  as  the 
enemy  were  driven  into  Charleston,  he  obtained  a  furlough  to  attend  to  the  care  of  a  constitution  broken 
down  by  wounds  and  hard  service.  From  this  time,  he  rather  lingered  than  lived,  until  at  Icngih,  he 
sunk  under  the  most  racking  diseases.  But  the  country  he  had  done  honour  to,  was  gratetul ;  and 
his  latter  days  were  passed  in  all  the  honours  and  comforts  that  his  state  of  health  admitted  of. 

To  two  other  distinguished  worthies  of  the  revolution,  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  greatest  obligations, 
General  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney  and  the  late  General  Davie.  The  privilege  of  consulting  these 
two  gentlemen,  on  all  occasions,  has  been  to  me  of  the  highest  importance.  Until  the  fall  of  Charles 
ton,  when  General  Pinckney  was  made  prisoner,  no  one  was  more  actively  employed  in  the  busy 
scenes  of  the  revolution  ;  and  General  Davie,  who,  just  about  that  time  had  attained  the  age  of  man 
hood,  and  appeared  in  arms,  was  closely  connected  with  the  southern  army,  and  enjoyed  the  highest 
confidence  of  its  commander  to  near  the  close  of  the  war.  One  of  his  last  communications  concludes 
with  "  I  thank  God  that  I  have  lived  to  discharge  this  work  of  duty  and  gratitude  in  contributing  to 
the  Biography  of  that  great  and  good  man."  From  General  Davie  I  was  favoured  with  voluminous 
communications,  the  value  of  which  can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  who  were  acquainted  with  his 
luminous  mind,  and  elevated  character. 

My  personal  acquaintance,  also,  with  almost  all  the  officers  of  rank,  who  distinguished  themselves 
in  the  southern  campaigns,  has  furnished  me  with  many  opportunities  of  making  those  inquiries  which 
sometimes  became  necessary  to  explain  and  elucidate  occurrences  in  those  campaigns.  And  to 
Colonels  Hampton,  Taylor,  Morris,' Watts,  Polk,  ai.d  Dr.  Read  who  had  charge  of  the  hospitals,  I 
acknowledge  myself  under  obligations  for  the  civilit}'  with  which  they  have  answered  my  inquiries. 

As  to  the  conduct  of  the  work,  my  leading  motive  has  been  to  bring  the  reader  familiary  acquainted 
with  the  character  of  my  hero:  subordinate  to  this  object,  to  throw  light  on  the  history  of  the  times 
in  which  he  flourished,  and  of  my  country  generally.  When  the  life  of  the  individual  becomes  iden 
tified  with  the  revolutionary  history.  I  have  endeavoured  to  use  the  latter  as  the  frame-work  in  which 
fo  suspend  my  Sketches.  In  this  effort,  it  is  a  matter  of  no  small  difficulty  to  strike  the  medium  be 
tween  giving  enough,  and  not  over-loading  the  work  with  extraneous  matter.  I  believe  I  have  erred 
in  the  last  member  of  the  alternative.  But  the  reader  will  pardon  me  for  observing,  that  I  have 
written  for  rov  own  amusement  as  well  as  his.  Intrenched  behind  a  muss  of  four  thousand  original 


PREFACE.  far. 

letters,  written  by  the  hands  of  all  the  distinguished  men  of  a  period,  the  events  of  which  are  destined  to 
change  the  face  of  the  world,  I  really  felt  an  irresistible  desire,  to  loiter  away  my  time  in  the  most  bril 
liant  assembly  that  I  can  ever  again  hope  to  be  encircled  by.  I  now  find  that  I  have  written  twice  as 
much  as  I  had  supposed,  and  yet  it  was  with  a  painful  sensation  that  I  dropped  my  pen  at  the  close  of" 
the  last  line.  I  felt  as  if  separating  from  the  most  venerable  company  that  had  ever  given  interest  to 
a  long  journey.  And  in  this — I  hold  myself  pardonable ;  for,  as  all  my  indemnity  for  many  a  labori 
ous  hour,  will  probably  be  limited  to  the  pleasure  of  the  employment,  it  was  with  me  "carpe  horam." 
Nevertheless,  I  affect  not  to  be  insensible  to  the  applause  of  the  learned  and  the  good ;  and,  flatter 
myself,  that  this  work  will  exhibit  some  attention  to  the  duties  of  the  citizen  and  the  author.  Popular 
ity  I  have  endeavoured  to  dismiss  all  thought  of;  to  make  my  book  saleable  has  never  entered  into 
my  mind ;  it  is  the  bane  of  independence  and  truth.  Yet,  while  I  shall  thrust  my  book  upon  no  one 
by  a  subscription  on  the  basis  of  faith,  I  do  not  affect  to  be  insensible  to  the  loss  or  gain  that  may  result 
from  it.  But  I  do  most  anxiously  covet  the  reputation  of  having  undertaken  the  work  from  motives, 
not  at  all  mixed  up  with  pecuniary  reward. 

To  those  who  may  be  of  opinion  that  I  have  wrtiten  toe  much,  I  would  remark,  that  there  is  a 
sacredness  in  the  character  of  our  revolution,  that  gives  importance  to  the  minutest  incident  connected 
with  it.  Like  the  fly  that  has  plunged  into  the  consecrated  chalice,  its  insignificance  gives  place  to  a 
new  character,  communicated  to  it  by  association.  Add  to  this,  that  we  are  at  this  period  engaged. 
rather  in  collecting  materials  for  the  future  historian,  than  ourselves  writing  the  history  of  our  coun 
try.  With  the  mass  of  materials  which  I  had  before  me,  and  which  perhaps  may  never  pass  into  the 
hands  of  another,  I  fell  strongly  called  upon  to  extract  and  introduce  into  this  work  as  much  as  the 
subject  Tould  reasonably  admit  of.  Yet  volumes  might  still  be  extracted  from  the  same  source.  The 
select  letters  of  General  Read,  the  Marquis  La  Fayette,  and  Baron  Steuben,  with  those  of  Generals 
Washington  and  Greene,  would  alone  make  up  two  interesting  volumes. 

There  is  one  part  of  the  work  in  which  I  have  been  very  minute ;  this  is  in  the  occurrences  in  the 
south,  subsequent  to  the  battle  of  the  Eutaws.  I  found  there  was  no  history  existing  of  that  period  j 
and  as  it  was  the  dine  of  the  occurrence  of  many  eventr,  interesting  to  the  inhabitants  of  South  Caroli 
na  and  Georgia,  although  of  a  minor  character,  I  have  indulged  my  pen  in  narrating  them  from  the 
official  letters  of  the  several  commanders,  for  the  gratification  of  those  whose  fore-fathers  were  active 
in  the  scenes  they  present.  This  part  of  the  work,  I  consign  to  the  patronage  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia.  It  exhibits  the  outlines  of  our  partisan  war,  and  is  intended  to  preserve  an  accurate  know- 
led  ^e  of  events,  which  still  furnish  us  with  topics  of  conversation,  interesting  to  us,  however  they  may 
dwindle  in  the  eyes  of  others.  I  have  furnished  detailed  accounts  of  these  occurrences  in  hopes  that 
the  recollection  of  them  may  serve  to  keep  alive  the  sacred  flame  that  burned  while  they  were  trans 
piring.  And  I  have  felt  myself  authorized  in  doing  so  in  this  work,  as  they  were  all  connected  with 
the  general  plan  of  the  war  at  its  close,  and  exhibit  the  struggles  between  the  contending  generals  for 
the  possession  or  control  of  the  low  country  of  the  two  states.  Desultory  as  the  events  of  that  period 
appear  in  all  the  accounts  ever  published  of  them,  there  was  a  perfect  connection  and  dependence  of 
every  one  upon  the  general  system  of  measures  pursued  by  the  commander  of  the  southern  depart 
ment;  and  all  influenced,  in  some  degree,  the  success  of  that  system.  They  will  si  rve  at  least  to  ex- 
fcibit  to  my  young  countrymen,  the  struggles  which  their  fathers  maintained  to  acquire  the  blessings, 
which  they  conquered,  and  we  enjoy  j  and  will  render  dear  to  us  many  a  spot  of  ground  that  has  been 
hallowed  by  their  blood. 

But,  let  not  him  who  carries  his  researches  into  the  regions  of  historical  truth,  receive  with  too 
much  fastidiousness  the  narrative  of  minor  events.  While  men  govern  the  world,  their  passions  govern 
aaen,  and  trifles  act  upon  the  passions,  trifles  will  have  much  to  do  in  the  affairs  of  mankind.  .From  th<? 


x.  PREFACE. 

war  that  desolated  the  kingdom  of  Priam,  founded  that  of  Rome,  changed  the  face  of  conquering 
Greece,  and  gave  two  immortal  poems  to  the  world,  to  that  which  broke  its' rage  upon  the  Icebergs  of 
Russia,  gave  a  new  master  to  Europe,  and  chained  its  old  one  to  a  sea-girt  rock,  like  the  unhappy 
Andromeda,  many  have  been  the  mighty  conflicts  that  have  been  produced  by  trifles.  When  the 
quail  escaped  from  beneath  the  cloak  of  Alcibiades,  and  the  assembled  people  of  Athens  ran  obse 
quiously  to  catch  it,  who  would  have  imagined  this  to  be  the  first  link  in  the  chain  of  incidents,  that 
should  deprive  that  people  of  liberty,  and  their  country  of  the  dominion  of  Greece  ?  How  sovereign 
must  have  been  the  reign  of  trifles,  when  the  mistress  of  the  world  was  herself  governed  by  the  peck 
ing  of  a  chicken,  or  the  perching  of  a  crow  !  And  where  was  there  ever  a  spectacle  exhibited  of 
abject  subjection  to  trilles,  more  conspicuous,  than  when,  in  the  plains  of  Pletea,  the  congregated  armies 
of  Greece,  awaiting  the  issue  of  a  battle  decisive  of  country,  family,  freedom,  life,  crouched  beneath 
their  shields,  cnuKt  abide  the  pelting  of  the  Persian  darts,  while  an  ignorant  fanatic  vas  slaughtering 
oxen  to  find  the  prophectic  speck  that  chance  might  place  upon  their  intestines.  It  is  a  subject  01; 
which  either  history  or  humour  might  indulge  itself  for  *  month. 

As  this  work  has  grown  to  a  bulk  which  I  never  anticipated,  I  plainly  foresee  that  I  shall  be  ex 
posed  to  the  imputation  of  having  swelled  it  by  the  free  use  of  what  has  flowed  from  the  pens  of  others. 
For  the  insertion  of  Colonel  Williams'  narrative  of  Gates'  defeat  and  its  subsequent  events,  I  will 
make  no  apology ;  it  is  an  invaluable  historical  fragment,  and  would  perhaps  never  have  appeared 
in  print  had  it  not  been  inserted  here — I  publish  it  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  a  man,  too 
little  known  to  the  American  people.  And  as  to  the  correspondence  with  which  the  work  is  inter 
spersed,  I  pray  the  reader  to  consider  its  publication  as  a  token  of  respect  to  himself.  For  I  am  very 
much  deceived,  if  it  does  not  constitute  the  most  interesting  and  acceptable  part  of  this  work.  I  have 
endeavoured  to  select  those  passages  only,  which  exhibit  some  trait  of  character — contain  some  useful 
lesson, — or  cast  some  light  upon  our  revolutionary  history.  I  am  not  ambitious  of  the  fame  of  a 
•writer :  I  would  rather  serve  mankind  by  an  useful  compilation,  than  fascinate  them  by  the  charms  of 
fine  writing.  Yet,  I  have  indulged  myself  more  in  these  extracts,  from  the  consciousness  that  the 
larger  my  book  becomes,  the  more  it  may  prove  injurious  to  my  own  purse;  and  still  more  so,  from 
the  strong  aversion  I  feel  to  that  propensity  of  some  authors,  to  show  more  of  themselves  than  their 
hero;  and  of  others,  to  indulge  in  that  vague,  general  eulogy,  which  is  unsupported  by  specimen  or 
example,  and  is  better  adapted  to  a  tombstone  than  an  attempt  at  Biography.  But  I  will  faithfully 
promise,  that  should  there  be  any  one  of  these  letters  or  extracts  wliich  all  my  readers  shall  agree 
ought  to  have  been  omitted,  it  shall  be  expunged  from — the  next  edition. 

There  is  one  subject  on  which  I  must,  with  siucere  humility,  cast  myself  on  the  benevolence  of  my 
reader.  In  narrating  facts  relative  to  the  two  conspiracies,  or  we  will  call  them  intrigues,  that  dis 
figure  our  revolutionary  history — the  one  to  put  down  General  Washington,  the  other  to  close  the 
war  in  usurpation  and  monarchy.  I  have  mentioned  names  highly  respected  by  the  American  people ; 
and  individuals,  closely  connected  with  some  whom  I  rank  among  my  most  valued  friends.  To  make 
an  enemy,  is  to  incur  one  of  the  greatest  misfortunes  in  life ;  and  hence  true  history  seldom  commences 
under  a  century  after  important  events  have  occurred.  In  the  efibrt  to  place  myself  at  the  end  of  that 
century,  and  write  as  one  would  write  from  the  same  materials,  who  could  not  incur  a  frown  from 
living  man,  I  know  that  I  have  exposed  myself  to  the  painful  feelings  of  one  who  gives  umbrage 
where  he  would  most  deprecate  it.  But  "  to  all  whom  I've  offended,"  I  must  make  one  common 
apology,  if  I  could  not  have  sunk  all  individual  feeling,  I  ought  not  to  have  entered  on  this  undertaking  ; 
and  if  groundless  imputations  have  found  their  way  into  the  materials  from  which  I  write,  now  is  the 
time  most  favourable  to  their  detection.  Joyfully  shall  I  acknowledge  every  error  that  shall  be  can 
didly  revealed  to  m«.  I  have  set  down  "  nought  in  malice,"  nor  any  thing  without  written  authority. 


PREFACE. 

I  have  veutured  somstimes  even  crto  extenuate  ;"    and  I  fondly  hope,  have  been  more  intent  on  em 
bellishing  good  actions,  than  aggravating  bad  ones. 

There  was  one  subject  on  winch,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  I  felt  very  much  embarrassed  ; 
This  was  in  the  use  of  the  pronoun:  it  became  indispensable  to  write  frequently  in  the  first  person, 
and  the  most  natural  mode  would  have  been  to  use  it  in  the  singular  number.  Cut  to  avoid  singular 
ity  I  felt  compelled  to  adopt  the  fashionable  use  of  the  plural.  This  sacrifice  to  tlie  practice  of 
others,  I  beg  the  modern  arbiters  of  taste,  science,  and  politics,  to  accept  as  a  tender  of  my  respectful 
bomage.  I  feel  no  compunction,  in  hastening  by  my  example,  the  time  when  the  press  shall  govern 
the  world,  provided,  that  candour,  benevolence  and  urbanity,  shall  go/orn  the  press. 

Should  this  work  be  productive  of  no  other  good  effect,  I  will  indulge  the  h.>p?,  tint  I  shall  not  in 
vain  have  reminded  my  fellow  citizens,  that  the  monuments  which  their  gratitude  has  voted  to  several 
distinguished  men  who  have  figured  in  these  pages,  remain  to  be  erected  :  and  that  sonic  of  our 
greatest  public  benefactors  have  since  left  this  transitory  world,  whose  deeds  in  anus,  deserve  well  to 
be  commemorated  by  some  monument  of  public  gratitude.  The  bloody  fields  too  of  the  Eutaws,  the 
Cowpens,  and  Guilford,  remain  undistinguished  by  any  expression  of  public  reminiscence.  The 
two  former  are  desart  wilds.  But  they  are  classic  ground ;  and  should  public  patronage  follow  this 
effort  of  my  pen,  the  traveller  shall  no  longer  pass  those  hallowed  spots,  unheeding,  that  he  trep.d* 
npon  the  mould  that  has  been  moi-tened  by  the  best  blood  of  our  country. 


Charleston,  Janwary  iMh,  1822 


NATHANAEL    GREENE. 


CHAPTER   I. 


Portrait,  Parentage,  and  early  Life. 

• 

Jt  HE  order  of  the  commander  in  chief,  which  assigned  General  Nathanael  CHAP. 
Greene  to  the  command  of  the  Soutliprn  department,  bears  date  the  14th  °fv_x->—^ 
October  1780.     Until  that  period,  his  standing  'n  the  army  was  of  the  first 
order  in  respectability ;  he  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  Washington  and  of  the 
country,  and  had  ever  discharged  the  duties  of  the  man  and  the  soldier  with 
fidelity  and   ability.      But  no  opportunities  had  yet  been  afforded  him  of 
displaying  those  eminent  talents  which  then  broke  upon  the  American  people, 
and  exhibited  a  splendour  of  military  character  excelled  only  by  him  whom 
none  can  equal. 

The  subject  of  these  memoirs  was  at  that  time  in  the  thirty-ninth  year 
of  his  age.  His  stature  about  five  feet  ten  or  eleven  inches;  his  frame 
vigourous  and  well  proportioned ;  his  port  erect  and  commanding ;  nor  was 
his  martial  appearance  diminished  by  a  slight  obstruction  in  the  motion  of 
his  right  leg,  contracted  in  early  life.  The  general  character  of  his  face  was 
that  of  manly  beauty.  His  fair  and  florid  complexion  had  not  entirely 
yielded  to  the  exposures  of  five  campaigns;  nor  was  a  slight  blemish  in  the 
right  eye  observed,  but  to  excite  regret  that  it  did  not  equal  the  benevolent 
expression  and  brilliancy  of  the  left.  Such  is  the  portrait  of  the  man  whom 

1 


>-  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

€HAP.  we  arc  to  follow  through  these  pages.  His  manners  were  uniformly  con- 
^-v~>*s  sonant  to  the  gravity  of  his  character  and  dignity  of  his  station.  Yet  he 
could  be  cheerful  even  to  playfulness,  and  his  intercourse  with  the  world 
was  marked  with  that  unaffected  urbanity  of  manners  which  flows  from  the 
politeness  of  the  heart.  Whether  grave  or  gay,  he  could  accommodate  him 
self  to  society,  with  a  grace  and  facility  which  may  be  acquired  from  lon^ 
and  general  intercourse  with  polite  circles,  but  which  in  him  is  to  be  attributed 
to  rapid  observation,  a  quick  perception  of  propriety,  and  a  mind  well  stored 
with  sound  and  useful  information. 

Advantages,  in  early  life,  he  had  none;  born  and  raided  in  obscurity, 
without  education  and  without  society,  he  exhibited  a  striking  instance  of 
what;  good  examples,  sound  principles,  native  genius,  and  above  all,  indus 
trious  habits  and  a  careful  improvement  of  time,  can  accomplish. 

His  first  appearance  on  the  arena  of  the  revolution,  was  at  the  siege  of 
Boston.  He  then  commanded  the  Rhode  Island  contingent  of  troops,  raised 
under  the  recommendation  of  the  Congress  of  1774.  Until  that  time,  he  had 
scarcely  emerged  from  the  narrow  limits  of  his  native  state.  Yet,  although 
in  the  contingents  of  the  states,  there  were  many  men  of  polite  and  liberal 
education,  he  appeared  inferior  to  no  one.  He  conversed  with  ease  and 
elegance;  though  not  forward  in  eliciting  conversation,  he  shrunk  not  under 
a  consciousness  of  deficiency ;  and  in  soundness  of  judgement,  knowledge  of 
his  profession,  and  neatness  of  diction  in  his  correspondence,  he  was  inferior 

tO  very  few.      Yet    all   knew  that  his  connexion's  \vnrr    of  the   religious  SCCt  of 

Quakers,  and  that  his  early  days  had  been  sedulously  devoted  to  the  most 
laborious  occupations.  But  until  then,  they  did  not  know,  that  his  vigorous 
mind  had  risen  superior  to  early  prejudice;  that  from  his  sleep  or  his  meals 
he  had  stolen  time  to  acquire  a  considerable  share  of  polite  learning;  and  by 
denying  himself  the  most  ordinary  indulgences,  he  had  acquired  a  respectable 
library,  and  with  its  contents  had  stored  an  herculean  memory,  which  never 
was  known  to  relinquish  its  acquirements. 

His  stern  integrity  and  devotedncss  to  religious  and  political  liberty  he  had 
acquired  in  a  country  planted  by  the  victims  or  the  exiles  of  persecution ;  or 
had  inherited  from  an  ancestry  proverbially  devoted  to  the  assertion  of  equal 
rights,  who  had  also  cruelly  felt  and  traditionally  commemorated,  the  evils  of 
oppression. 

The  protosire  of  our  Hero  (who,  in  the  family,  is  emphatically  styled  the 
General)  was  John  Greene,  one  of  the  followers  of  the  persecuted  Gorton, 
who,  in  the  year  1640,  fled  from  the  fanatics  of  Boston,  and  sought  an  asylum 
on  the  west  side  of  die  Narraganset  (then  called  Nanhyganset)  Bay.  The 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  i 

land,  originally  purchased  by  him  of  the  Indians,  is  still  in  the  family;  for  CHAP. 
it  is  consecrated  by  the  tombs  of  the  fathers.  And  the  original  conveyance  ^^^-^ 
from  the  headmen  of  the  Narraganset  Nation  is  still  shown,  as  the  indispu 
table  evidence  of  the  fairness  of  die  acquirement.  It  is  situated  in  the  tract 
of  country  now  known  by  the  epithet  of  Warwick  Neck,  originally  called 
Shaw-omit.  It  is  in  the  township  of  Warwick,  and  near  the  town  of  that 
name.  But  the  place  of  the  General's  nativity,  is  some  miles  distant  from  it, 
and  on  the  opposite  side  of  an  arm  of  the  Narraganset  Bay.  In  all  the  biogra 
phical  notices  of  General  Greene,  die  town  of  Warwick  is  said  to  have  been 
the  place  of  his  nativity.  This  is  correct,  in  the  language  of  the  Eastern 
States,  in  which  "  town"  means  a  district,  or  municipal  division  of  country, 
synonymous  with  "  township."  The  place  of  his  nativity  is,  in  fact,  included 
within  the  township  of  Warwick,  because  the  western  line  crosses  the  basin 
of  East-Greenwich,  and  comprises  the  opposite  fauces  of  the  bay  or  harbour. 
But  the  town  of  Warwick,  properly  so  called,  is  some  miles  distant  to  the 
north  of  the  Potowome  Mills, 

To  the  west  of  this  bay,  and  on  a  beautiful  little  basin,  stands  the  town  of 
East-Greenwich.  This  basin  is  formed  by  two  small  streams,  the  principal 
of  which  still  retains  the  Indian  name  of  Potowome,  or  Potow-o-mit ;  the 
former  being  probably  an  abbreviation  of  the  latter.  On  this  stream,  and 
near  to  where  it  empties  itself  into  the  basin,  at  the  distance  of  about  two 
miles  south-east  of  East-Greenwich,  stand  the  Patowome  Mills,  and  this  is 
the  place  of  the  nativity  of  the  General.  The  house  is  a  comfortable  stone 
building,  of  one  story,  and  is  still  occupied  by  his  respectable  and  hospitable 
brothers.  And  the  forge,  at  which  for  many  a  year  he  cheerfully  toiled  as  an 
anchor-smith,  together  with  the  mill,  which,  with  a  book  in  his  hand,  he 
attended  as  a  respite  from  labour,  although  exhibiting  strong  symptoms  of 
remote  antiquity,  are  still  in  active  operation.  Here,  the  curious  traveller 
will  be  shown  the  humble  spot  where  labour  strung  the  nerve  and  the  mind 
of  a  Cincinnatus ;  and  here,  too,  he  will  behold  the  rude  forge  at  which,  when 
a  mere  boy,  he  consumed  the  hours  in  which  industry  may  rest,  in  making 
iin  axe,  or  repairing  some  implements  of  husbandry,  to  acquire  a  pittance 
for  purchasing  some  book  that  he  had  heard  of,  and  sighed  to  possess. 

He  who  views  these  objects  widiout  a  deep  sense  of  humiliation,  must  be 
well  assured,  that  he  has  not  enjoyed  superior  opportunities,  or  has  not 
abused  them.  Among  the  most  instructive  and  useful  lessons  in  life,  is  that 
of  a  superior  mind,  guided  by  sound  principles,  strunsjling  against  the  united 
disadvantages  of  poverty, "obscurity,  and  prejudice,  rising  superior  to  every 
difficulty,  and  emerging  to  fume  and  to  utility. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

• 

There  are  some  incidents  respecting  the  early  history  of  the  settlement  of 
family  in  Rhode  Island,  which  merit  attention,  not  only  from  their  singu- 
larity,  but  from  their  probable  effect  in  giving  a  bent  to  the  genius,  and  origin 
to  tlie  sentiments  and  principles  which  governed  the  conduct  of  our  Hero. 
It  is  trup,  the  hereditary  transmission  of  talents  or  principles  is  exploded 
every  where,  except  when  necessary  to  console  family  pride,  or  perpetuate 
political  delusion;  but,  place  a  family  in  a  situation  remote  from  active  inter 
course  with  the  world,  and  the  examples  and  opinions  of  an  ancestor  may 
be  transmitted  through  many  generations,  and  give  a  tone  and  character  to 
his  posterity. 

Such  was  the  situation  to  which  this  family  was  consigned,  and  to  this 
day  there  remains,  at  least  among  the  elder  branches,  something  of  primeval 
simplicity  in  principles  and  manners  which  is  seldom  to  be  met  with. 

The  State  of  Rhode  Island  was  originally  settled  by  religious  sectarians, 
who  sought  in  the  wilderness,  for  that  freedom  of  conscience,  or  of  speculation, 
which  was  denied  them  in  the  parent  colony  of  Massachusetts.  Although 
the  settlers  of  the  latter  colony  had  fled  from  the  persecutions  which  disgraced 
England  in  the  commencement  of  the  seventeenth  century,  yet  scarcely  had 
they  effected  a  settlement  in  their  place  of  refuge,  before  they  exhibited  an 
additional  proof  that  fanaticism,  whether  in  a  city  or  a  wilderness,  is  still 
cruel,  selfisii,  and  tyrannical ;  or  that  the  corrupting  influence  of  power  may 
taint  even  the  purity  of  the  Christian  religion. 

Roger  Williams  was  the  first  who  fled,  and  led  off  with  him  a  colony  to 
found  the  city  of  Providence.  Next  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her  followers 
acquired  and  settled  the  Island  of  Aquetnet,  or  Rhode  Island  proper,  and 
built  the  town  of  Newport.  And  lastly,  Samuel  Gorton,  and  his  eleven 
followers,  descending  the  Narraganset  Bay  on  the  west  side,  settled  on  War 
wick  Neck. 

This  flourishing  little  abode  of  heresy  and  toleration  soon  inflamed  the 
religious  or  official  zeal  of  Governor  Winthrop.  And  a  Captain  Cook,  w  ith 
an  armed  party  of  treble  Gorton's  number,  was  dispatched  with  strict  orders 
"  to  bring  the  hereticks  to  Boston,  dead  or  alive."  At  the  head  of  this  crusade 
in  miniature,  marched  a  holy  man,  with  strict  injunctions  to  keep  his  soldiers 
regularly  to  their  prayers,  and  to  explain  to  Gorton  and  his  deluded  followers, 
the  whole  enormity  of  their  errors — before  they  were  put  to  death.  What 
those  errors  were  it  is  immaterial  to  relate.  Suffice  it  to  say,  they  had  refe 
rence  to  the  most  abstruse  and  speculative  doctrines,  and  were  wholly  imma 
terial  to  Christian  piety  or  a  good  life. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  * 

Gorton  persisted  sturdily  in  the  argument  against  the  nuncio  of  \Vinthrop  ;  CHAP. 
and  thinking  he  had  the  best  of  it,  refused  to  acknowledge  himself  convinced.  ^^/ 
Cook  accordingly  gave  the  word  for  the  onset,  and  that  Greene,  the  proto- 
sire  of  our  Hero,  was  not  then  a  Quaker,  is  proved  by  their  having  made  a 
brave  resistance  against  the  Massachusetts  men,  until  resistance  was  hopeless. 
They  were  made  prisoners  and  conveyed  to  Boston.  The  women  and  children 
were  dispersed  in  the  woods,  and  as  it  was  at  a  time  when  the  ground  was 
covered  with  snow,  several  of  them  actually  perished— the  rest  of  these  help 
less  fugitives,  after  sustaining  incredible  hardships,  were  protected,  clothed 
and  hospitably  entertained — by  Savages.  But  the  effect  of  these  kind  offices 
of  the  Aborigines  of  the  country  is  seen  at  this  day.  The  Narraganset  tribe 
of  Indians,  still  about  five  hundred  strong,  is  the  only  nation,  which,  from 
Maine  to  Georgia,  can  boast  of  a  national  existence,  and  the  least  advance 
ment  to  civilization.  They  owe  their  preservation  to  Gorton  and  his  follow 
ers  ;  and  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  more  particularly  to  Greene. 

Gorton  was  actually  condemned  to  die  ;  and  his  followers,  after  many 
ineffectual  attempts  to  make  them  renounce  their  errors,  were  ultimately, 
ex  me.ro  motu,  pardoned  on  condition  that  they  should  never  again  settle  on 
the  Narraganset  Bay. 

But,  much  to  the  credit  of  the  people  of  Boston,  popular  sentiment  appears 
to  have  been  excited  in  favor  of  Gorton,  and  their  fanatical  Governor  was 
at  length  obliged  to  release  his  victim. 

The  first  effort  of  the  party  on  their  return  home,  was  to  secure  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  country  of  their  choice,  as  the  only  means  of  future  security, 
or  justifiable  retaliation. 

The  Massachusetts  Bay  colony  laid  claim  to  a  jurisdiction  over  the  whole 
of  that  country  as  far  as  the  limits  of  New  York,  or  to  the  Pacific.  But  they 
had  repeatedly  attacked  and  harassed  the  Indians ;  had  sold  them  into 
slavery,  set  a  price  upon  their  heads,  and  recently  had  nearly  extirpated  the 
Pequots,  killing  the  men,  shipping  off  the  boys  to  Bermuda,  and  distributing 
the  women  and  female  children  among  the  colonists.*  The  Narraganscts, 
therefore,  feared  and  hated  them;  and  Gorton's  party  adroitly  availing  them 
selves  of  this  state  of  things,  secretly  prevailed  upon  their  chiefs,  to  execute  a 
deed  of  transfer  of  soil  and  sovereignty  to  the  King  of  England.  The  grant 
is  still  preserved,  and  embraces  the  whole  country  within  the  limits  of  Rhode 
Island.  Whether  their  rights  were  co-extensive  widi  their  cession  is  not  to 


Massachusetts  Memorial. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

be  ascertained.     Generally  the  limits  of  Indian  territory    is  but  ill  defined, 
.and  various  nations  will  lav  claim  to  the  same  hunting  grounds. 

^  o    o 

Furnished  with  this  important  document,  one  of  Gorton's  followers  was 
immediately  dispatched  to  England.  The  grant  was  accepted,  and  the  char 
ter,  which  created  the  State,  so  soon  followed,  that  it  wras  unquestionably  the 
result  of  this  cession  from  the  Narragansets. 

These  events  are  all  commemorated  by  Gorton  in  a  publication  under  the 
quaint  title  of  ««  Simplicity's  defence  against  seven  headed  tyranny,"  a  rare, 
amusing,  and  obviously  authentic  narrative.  « 

In  these  occurrences,  Greene  must  have  been  a  principal  sufferer ;  that  he 
lost  his  wife  about  this  time  is  recorded  in  the  family  annals,  from  which 
circumstance  it  is.  probable  she  was  one  of  those  who  perished  in  the  snow. 
And  that  he  was  soon  after  in  England,  where  he  married  another  wife,  is 
equally  well  established  ;  from  which  the  inference  is  a  very  reasonable  one, 
that  he  was  the  bearer  of  the  Narragansets7  deed  of  cession,  and  a  principal 
negociator  for  die  independence  of  that  nation,  and  of  die  State  of  Rhode 
Island. 

The  family,  ever  since  its  establishment,  have  clung  to  their  little  Ithaca 
with  a  singular  pertinacity.  They  are  now  much  ramified,  very  numerous, 
and  very  respectable.  They  are  mostly  substantial  farmers,  industrious,  and 
judicious  iii  the  culture  of  a  soil  which  possesses  few  natural  advantages ;  but 
live  in  great  comfort  and  singular  harmony.  Several  of  them  have  filled  the 
highest  offices  in  the  State. 

The  family  of  General  Greene  were  originally  from  Salisbury  in  England. 
His  father,  Nathanael,  was  the  third  in  descent  from  the  original  emigrant. 
Nathanael,  the  subject  of  these  memoirs,  his  second  son  by  Mary  Mott,  was 
born  May  27,  1 742.  The  father  had  been  previously  married,  and  had  two 
sons,  so  that  Nathanael  was  the  fourth  of  eight  whom  he  raised  to  manhood. 

Very  early  in  life  they  were  deprived  by  death  of  the  cares  of  their  mother  ; 
and  with  the  aid  of  a  motherly  house  keeper,  the  eight  boys  were  brought 
up  together  under  the  eye  of  the  father.  And  although  nothing  was  further 
from  the  intention  of  his  sire  than  preparing  him  for  a  military  life,  he  lite 
rally  received  a  Spartan  education.  The  old  gentleman  was  a  highly  respec 
table  Quaker  preacher,  and  for  nearly  forty  years  was  in  the  habit  of  deli 
vering  himself  in  the  meeting  at  East  Greenwich,  with  a  force  and  eloquence, 
it  is  said,  which  would  have  done  honour  to  any  pulpit.  As  his  family  in 
creased,  he  regularly  attended  his  place  of  worship,  followed  by  his  train  of 
boys,  all  habited  in  the  simplest  costume  of  their  sect.  Temperate,  frugal 
and  laborious  himself,  his  habits  were  inculcated  on  hi.*  children,  not  less  bv 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

his  own  example,  than  by  the  impressive  lessons  of  a  rod  and  a  vigorous  arm.  CHAP. 
Passive  and  prompt  obedience  were  among  his  favorite  doctrines  ;  and  the  ^-v~+ 
least  undutiful  hesitation  was  followed  by  a  frown  of  authority,  and  a  look 
of  command  that  admitted  of  no  delay.  Yet  he  was  kind  and  affectionate, 
and  acted  rather  from  dictates  of  duty,  and  a  sense  of  propriety,  than  im- 
periousness  of  character.  His  forge,  his  mill,  and  his  farm,  divided  his 
attention ;  and,  regularly,  as  his  children  attained  to  a  proper  age,  they  were 
assigned  to  the  plough,  and  gradually  passed  through  their  degrees,  until 
honoured  with  a  station  at  the  anvil.  Eight  fine  athletic  boys,  to  a  man  thus 
circumstanced,  were  not  only  a  boon  from  heaven,  but  a  real  accession  of 
fortune. 

His  own  limited  education,  the  fanaticism  of  the  times,  and  something  per 
haps  of  the  peculiar  opinions  of  his  sect,  had  impressed  him  with  an  opinion, 
that  the  Bible  was  the  only  book  worthy  the  study  of  an  intellectual  being. 
Mere  human  learning  he  held  in  very  low  estimation,  and  never  encouraged 
the  acquirement  of  it  in  his  children  beyond  the  simplest  rudiments  of  edu 
cation.  To  their  moral  and  religious  conduct,  he  paid  the  most  undivided 
attention.  Nor  did  he  fail  to  inspire  them  with  the  most  elevated  principles 
of  moral  conduct,  or  to  form  them  for  the  conscientious  discharge  of  those 
duties,  which  constitute  the  good  man  and  the  useful  citizen. 

The  father  of  biography  has  seldom  introduced  a  great  man  to  his  readers 
without  relating  the  concomitant  omens  at  his  birth,  or  some  early  prognostic 
of  his  future  greatness.  Justly  as  these  superstitions  are  derided,  it  is  pro 
bable  that  where  the  tales  of  these  early  prognostics  had  reached  the  ears  of 
their  imputed  object,  they  have  had,  not  unfrequently,  some  effect  in  giving  a 
direction  to  his  views,  and  a  stimulus  to  his  exertions.  It  is  a  tolerated 
opinion,  that  prophecies  have  preceded  and  probably  aided  to  produce  the 
conquest  of  kingdoms.  Such  are  very  gravely  related  by  historians,  both  of 
Mexico  before  the  invasion  of  Coitcz,  and  of  Egypt  before  the  French  inva 
sion.  Whether  these  observations  were  verified  or  not  in  the  instance  of 
Greene,  it  is  very  certain,  that  from  the  time  of  his  birth  a  vague  expectation, 
prevailed,  not  only  in  his  family,  but  in  his  neighbourhood,  that  he  was  one 
day  to  become  an  eminent  personage.  It  is  even  asserted,  that  the  church  to 
which  he  belonged,  looked  forward  to  his  becoming  the  great  champion  of 
their  faith  ;  but  his  family,  or  at  least  some  of  them,  gave  another  direction  of 
their  ambitious  hopes,  and  maintained  that  he  was  to  become  a  military 
leader.  In  so  many  ways  did  this  tradition  reach  the  ears  of  the  writer  of 
these  pages,  that  he  could  not  forbear  inquiring  into  the  particulars  from  men 


8  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

<. 

CHAP,  of  the  greatest  gravity  and  soundest  understanding.     And  the  tale  will  serve  to 
^^^^-^  illustrate  the  origin  of  many  other  similar  prophecies. 

To  the  humiliation  of  human  pretensions,  it  is  well  known  that  judicial 
astrology  once  reigned  over  the  world,  even  under  the  sanction  of  the  rulers 
of  nations.  And  the  folios  which  still  exist  to  elucidate  its  principles,  attest 
that  the  world  was  in  earnest  in  their  belief  in  its  reality  as  a  science.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  East  still  persist  in  this  melancholy  proof,  that  man  may  be 
made  to  believe  any  thing. 

It  is  not  then  to  be  wondered  at,  if  in  the  year  1742,  in  the  vicinity  of  two 
States  in  which  prosecutions  for  witchcraft  had  been  once  pursued  with  zeal 
and  vigour,  a  remnant  of  judicial  astrology  should  be  found  in  a  remote 
corner  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island. 

Among  man-midwives  of  that  day,  a  Dr.  Spencer  stood  foremost  in  emi 
nence.  But,  whatever  skill  or  success  the  Doctor  may  have  exliibitcd  in  an 
obstetrical  case,  he  would  hardly  have  been  thought  to  have  earned  his  fee, 
had  he  not  cast  a  nativity,  or  uttered  some  grave  prognostic  relative  to  die 
new  accession  to  the  family.  Yet  it  is  probable,  that  in  the  present  instance 
the  Doctor,  observing  the  correct  form,  healthy  aspect,  vigourous  limbs  and 
sonorous  pipes  of  little  Greene,  meant  no  more  than  to  foretell  his  future 
excellence  in  bodily  strength — when  he  predicted  "  that  he  woulsj  one  day 
become  a  mighty  man  in  Israel."  But  the  omen  was  greedily  caught  at  by 
servants  and  nurses  until  it  became  a  favorite  gossipping  tale.  Certain  it  is 
that  the  prediction  got  abroad  :  so  that,  when  he  afterwards  attained  to  emi 
nence,  there  were  many  of  the  elderly  people  who  would  gravely  declare. 
"  It  was  what  we  always  knew  would  happen." 

But  much  more  satisfactory  prognostics  appeared  a  fe\v  years  afterward?. 
His  agility,  bodily  strength,  quickness  of  apprehension,  emulation  and  reso 
lution,  were  always  above  his  years.  It  is  a  well  attested  fact,  that  at  the  age 
of  seventeen,  he  exhibited  proofs  of  bodily  strength,  which  we  cannot  venture 
to  relate.  And  in  wrestling,  running,  skating,  and  other  athletic  and  rural 
amusements,  he  was  never  satisfied  as  long  as  there  was  anyone  who  excelled 
him. 

These  were  the  early  objects  of  his  emulation.  No  others  had  yet  been 
presented  to  his  mind  ;  and  even  when  mischief  was  the  proposed  pursuit  of 
his  companions,  as  is  too  often  the  case  with  such  minds,  his  genius  impelled 
him  to  take  the  lead.  Children  are  generally  very  sagacious  discoverers  and 
candid  acknowledgers  of  each  others  talents ;  and  the  deference  paid  to  his 
genius  and  prowess,  among  the  companions  even  of  his  earliest  years,  was  a 
subject  of  general  remark.  Even  his  stern  father  was  observed  to  yield  to 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  9 

his  opinions  and  wishes  an  attention  which  no  other  of  the  family  could   CHAP. 
ever  command.  <^-v-<^ 

Such  is  the  ascendancy  of  mind ;  and  fortunate  it  is  for  society,  when  a 
judicious  direction  is  given  to  the  early  efforts  of  aspiring  genius.  In  the 
present  instance,  the  sole  points  of  excellence  presented  to  the  view  of  our 
hero  were,  to  become  a  neat  ploughman  or  skilful  mechanic ;  employments 
safe,  useful,  and  reputable  in  themselves  ;  but,  to  which  a  mind  like  his  could 
only  be  confined  by  keeping  from  his  view  those  which  are  calculated  to  afford 
more  intellectual  enjoyment,  and  a  wider  range  to  genius  and  ambition. 

Until  his  fourteenth  year,  he  had  been  brought  up  almost  in  a  state  of 
ignorance.  In  the  long  and  severe  winters  of  that  climate,  when  the  waters 
are  bound  in  ice,  and  the  labours  of  the  field  and  of  the  furnace  suspended, 
an  erratic  teacher  had  been  employed  to  instruct  the  boys  to  read.  But  as 
yet  he  knew  not  that  the  bounds  of  human  knowledge  had  ever  reached 
beyond  the  spelling  book  and  the  bible.  Contented  in  his  ignorance,  he 
enjoyed  all  that  eminence  which  promptness  in  school,  and  activity  and 
erterprize  out  of  it,  could  impart,  and  never  sent  forth  or  ever  felt  a  wish 
after  other  objects. 

An  accidental  acquaintance  formed  about  this  time  wras  destined  to  open 
his  eyes  to  his  own  ignorance.  A  lad  of  the  name  of  Giles  happened  to 
be  on  a  visit  at  East  Greenwich  during  the  vacation  of  the  university  of 
Rhode  Island,  in  which  he  was  a  student.  With  him,  in  one  of  his  winter 
rambles,  Greene  formed  an  acquaintance,  and  to  him  he  was  indebted  for 
the  information  that  there  were  other  tilings  to  be  learned  in  the  world  besides 
reading  and  writing. 

From  this  time  his  tranquillity  fled,  and  a  few  odd  volumes  of  the  most 
ordinary  books,  picked  up  on  the  shelves  of  his  few  acquaintances,  so  irritated 
his  appetite  for  reading,  that  he  was  literally  never  without  a  book  in  his 
hand,  whilst  he  could  obtain  one,  except  when  engaged  in  the  most  laborious 
occupations;  and  when  his  little  stock  was  exhausted,  and  he  could  borrow 
no  more,  there  was  no  toil  or  privation  that  he  would  not  submit  to  in 
order  to  procure  the  means  of  acquiring  them  by  purchase.  Neither  the 
mill  nor  the  plough  presented  any  facilities  for  making  a  penny  on  his  own 
account  ;  but  by  the  rapid  acquirement  of  the  trade  of  a  smith,  which  his 
father  then  carried  on  at  the  mills,  in  several  branches,  he  was  soon  enabled 
to  attain  his  wished  for  object.  It  was  but  little,  very  little,  that  he  could 
thus  acquire,  and  only  in  intervals  of  respite  from  his  father's  business ;  but 
it  was  ah1  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  books.  No  childish  toy,  no  article  of 


o 


10  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  decoration,  no  idle  amusement  ever  withdrew  a  penny  of  his  earnings  from 
object  that  wholly  engrossed  him. 

But  all  he  could  thus  acquire  was  soon  devoured.  A  shelf  in  one  corner  of 
the  shop  received  his  treasure  as  soon  as  it  was  brought  home,  and  neither 
diversion  nor  sleep  could  withdraw  him  from  it.  It  was  read,  and  re-read 
whenever  his  care  could  be  withdrawn  from  the  massy  anchor,  until  every 
page  became  familiar  to  him. 

There  are  no  means  existing  by  which  it  is  any  longer  possible  to  trace 
the  course  of  his  reading  ;  nor  can  it  be  at  all  material  to  pursue  it,  since  his 
resources  were  so  scanty,  that  with  the  ravenous  appetite  that  impelled  him, 
it  cannot  be  expected  that  he  was  fastidious  in  the  choice  of  books.  Nothing 
ever  came  amiss ;  wliile  ever  books  could  be  commanded  they  were  read. 
And  his  whole  thoughts  were  then  devoted  to  the  means  of  acquiring  more. 
His  father's  business  alone  could  withhold  him  from  his  darling  occupation ; 
for,  whether  from  a  strong  sense  of  duty,  early  habit,  or  strict  discipline, 
that  alone  he  would  not  neglect  Yet,  when  it  came  to  his  course  to  attend 
the  mill,  he  uniformly  seated  himself  beside  the  hopper  with  his  book  in  his 
hand  ;  nor  were  his  eyes  always  withdrawn  from  it,  until  long  after  the  ebb 
ing  grain  had  vanished  from  between  the  mill-stones.  His  usual  seat  is  still 
shewn,  and  the  sight  of  it  is  well  calculated  to  call  forth  from  the  beholder, 
this  most  useful  of  all  inquiries,  "  How  have  I  appropriated  my  time  ?" 

It  will  no  doubt  be  to  many,  a  subject  of  amazement,  that  such  a  dispo 
sition  should  not  have  been  encouraged  by  a  parent.  But  it  must  be  recol 
lected,  that  to  his  only  parent  all  this  appeared  little  less  than  idleness,  or 
perhaps  worse  than  idleness,  a  dangerous  appropriation  of  time.  Reared, 
himse!f,  in  a  very  retired  part  of  the  country,  his  intercourse  had  been  almost 
exclusively  with  a  sect  who  habitually  and  conscientiously  dreaded  whatever 
could  withdraw  the  mind  from  religious  contemplation,  or  create  a  rivalship 
in  the  heart  between  this  world  and  the  next.  By  the  sole  advantage  of  a 
strong  mind,  he  had  reared  himself  from  indigence  to  independence,  and 
from  obscurity  to  a  kind  of  distinction,  wliich  in  his  view  was  preferable 
to  all  others,  that  of  "  the  chief  seat  in  the  synagogue."  It  is  not  then  to 
be  wondered  at,  if,  never  having  himself  tasted  the  delights  of  mental  im 
provement,  he  could  not  form  a  correct  idea  of  its  fa  cinating  influence  ;  or 
if,  from  his  long  habit  of  preaching  to  others  die  infinite  superiority  of  divine, 
when  compared  with  human  knowledge,  it  was  with  apprehension,  rather 
than  pleasure,  he  contemplated  this  fondness  of  his  son  for  miscellaneous 
reading.  Yet  he  did  not  check  him  ;  his  assiduous  discharge  of  his  full  share 
of  the  duties  of  the  mill,  the  forge  and  plantation,  left  tne  father  no  grounds 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  11 

to  charge  him  with  idleness  or  neglect  of  duty  ;  and  by  a  mutual  uuder-   CHAP. 
standing,  working  and  reading  went  on  together  without  jostling  against  each  ^^~*~> 
other.     Nay,  at  the  expiration  of  a  year  or  two  the  beseeching  looks,  some 
times  entreaties,  but  more  than  all,  dutiful  behaviour  and  industrious  habits  of 
a  son  in  whom  he  could  not  conceal  his  pride,  induced  him  to  look  out  for 
a   master  for   the    approaching   winter,  who  possessed  acquirements  much 
superior  to  those  of  the  teachers  previously  employed. 

Fortunately  his  choice  fell  upon  a  Mr.  Maxwell,  the  father  of  several  respec 
table  men  of  that  name  now  living,  and  to  him  Greene  was  indebted  for 
the  little  Latin  he  ever  acquired.  But  a  study  which  brought  into  exercise 
nothing  but  memory  was  not  to  his  taste  ;  and  after  three  months  diligent 
application,  the  Latin  books  were  laid  aside  and  never  afterwards  resumed. 
New  objects  had  opened  on  his  mind,  the  nature  and  uses  of  the  exact 
sciences  had  been  explained  to  him  by  Mr.  Maxwell,  and  the  anvil  rung  until 
he  had  made  himself  master  of  an  Euclid. 

This  was  a  store  for  a  long  feast ;  and  although  the  master  was  of  course 
dismissed  for  the  summer,  yet  Euclid  was  not  dismissed  with  him.  With 
surprising  facility  and  rapidity,  he  made  himself  master  of  geometry  and  its 
application  to  surveying  and  navigation.  The  pursuit  of  truth,  unclouded  by 
a  doubt,  and  conducting  him  to  usefulness,  and,  perhaps,  eminence,  had 
charms  for  our  hero,  which  threw  altogether  in  the  shade,  the  mere  amuse 
ment  of  books. 

In  the  school  of  Euclid  it  was  that  he  acquired  those  clear  distinct  con 
ceptions,  which,  it  will  be  seen,  distinguished  his  pen.  Nature  had  given  him 
the  weapons,  but  geometry  taught  him  to  use  them  with  skill  and  effect 
And  the  exercise  to  which  his  mind  was  now  subjected,  prepared  it  to  master 
with  facility,  several  other  studies,  to  which  his  attention  was  soon  alter 
directed. 

It  was  not  until  his  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  year,  that  he  possessed  the 
advantage  of  an  acquaintance  with  one,  competent  to  direct  his  studies  or 
inform  his  judgement  in  the  selection  of  books.  His  good  fortune  about  this 
time  introduced  him  to  two  men,  who  afterwards  acquired  some  eminence  in 
the  literary  world.  These  were  President  Stiles,  of  Yale  College,  and 
Lindlcy  Murray,  well  known  as  the  author  of  Murray's  Grammar,  and  several 
other  popular  works. 

Stiles  was,  at  this  time,  established  minister  to  one  of  die  churches  in 
Newport.  There  was  a  shaloupe  attached  to  the  Potouome  Mills,  in  which 
the  anchors  were  transported  to  Newport  for  sale.  In  this  boat  Greene  had 
worked  his  passage  to  Newport,  to  lay  out  his  earnings  in  the  purchase  of  a 


12  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

book.  It  happened,  that  Stiles  was  in  the  bookstore  when  Greene  entered, 
informed  the  bookseller,  "he  wished  to  purchase  a  book."  What  book? 
asked  the  merchant.  The  long  pause  that  ensued,  caused  Stiles  to  turn  about, 
and  discover  a  Quaker  l^ov,  in  the  plainest  costume  of  his  sect,  with  a  hat 
and  coat,  bearing  unequivocal  marks  of  the  mill  and  the  forge,  but  a  fine 
florid  ingenuous  countenance,  suffused  with  the  deepest  blush.  His  ignorance 
and  inability  to  choose,  with  a  consciousness  of  his  very  limited  capacity  to 
gratify  a  choice,  rushed  so  forcibly  upon  his  recollection  when  the  question, 
What  book?  was  proposed  to  him,  that  his  embarrassment  was  extreme. 
Stiles  saw  it,  and  benevolently  resolved  to  relieve  him.  He  knew  human 
nature,  and  gradually  insinuated  himself  into  the  confidence  of  the  abashed 
boy,  until  he  drew  from  him  sufficient  information  to  direct  his  choice.  This 
was  the  commencement  of  a  mutual  confidence  and  esteem,  which  lasted 
through  life.  Greene  was  invited  to  his  house,  and  ever  after  venerated  him 
as  a  father.  Stiles  saw  and  encouraged  liis  avidity  for  knowledge,  and  gave 
a  direction  to  liis  taste  and  application,  which  relieved  him  from  all  future 
embarrassment  on  similar  occasions.  These  are  the  services,  wliich  make  the 
most  indelible  impression  on  an  ingenuous  heart.  Unexpected  and  gratuitous, 
they  are  hailed  as  boons  from  heaven.  And  depraved  as  the  human  heart 
may  be,  it  is  seldom  that  man  forgets  liis  early  benefactor.  The  young,  with 
a  proper  degree  of  modesty  and  merit,  are  ever  grateful  for  the  countenance  and 
support  of  the  grave  and  the  aged.  The  transit  from  the  privacy  of  a  parent's 
roof,  to  the  bustle  and  vicissitude  of  actual  life,  is  attended  by  a  degree  of  appre 
hension  and  anxiety,  that  solicits  the  patronage  of  the  veterans  of  society.  And 
little,  very  little  encouragement  is  often  of  infinite  importance  in  facilitating 
the  entrance  of  modest  merit  into  life.  The  young  feel  that  their  claim  is  a 
moderate  and  just  one:  to  refuse  it,  disgusts  and  dispirits  them;  whilst  their 
warm  and  ingenuous  feelings  magnify  the  obligation,  where  it  is  cordially  and 
spontaneously  bestowed.  In  acknowledging  obligations  conferred  at  this 
period,  men  refer  to  it  as  the  time  "  when  they  had  no  friend." 

It'was  a  real  acquisition  to  Greene  to  have  made  a  friend  of  Dr.  Stiles. 
He  was  no  longer  at  a  loss  where  to  look  for  information,  or  to  whom  to 
submit  his  early  crude  conceptions.  And  a  visit  to  Newport  became  now 
a  very  interesting  object.  The  means  he  made  use  for  this  purpose,  were 
perfectly  in  character.  He  soon  made  himself  a  skilful  boatman,  and  got 
preferred  to  the  captaincy  of  the  shaloupe.  This  gave  him  frequent  oppor 
tunities  of  conversing  with  his  friend,  and  of  poring  over  the  books  that 
crowded  the  shelves  of  die  bookseller.  Yet  it  was  never  unattended  with  a 
si^h,  drawn  from  the  inquiry*  "  Shah1  I  ever  command  all  these  r" 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  IS 

But  labour  had  hitherto  supplied  him  with  the  scanty  reading  he  had  CHAP. 
enjoyed;  labour  might  acquire  wealth,  and  wealth  would  command  the  trea- ^^^^/ 
sure  before  him.  These  reflections  stimulated  his  exertions,  and  rendered  him 
indefatigably  laborious.  It  is  a  fact,  that  he  has  been. known  to  grind  off 
the  calosity  from  his  hands  at  the  grind-stone,  to  render  them  more  pliant, 
when  small  work  was  to  be  done ;  and  such  were  his  efforts  at  the  heavy 
work  of  the  forge,  as  to  produce  the  lameness  which  attended  him  through 
life.  The  position  of  the  right  foot  of  the  anchor-smith  at  the  forge,  is  pre 
cisely  that  in  which  his  right  foot  became  permanently  fixed,  from  no  other 
cause  than  his  persevering  efforts  at  this  laborious  business.  Yet,  at  this  very 
time,  he  was  studying  Watts'  Logic,  Locke  on  the  Human  Understanding,  and 
Ferguson  on  Civil  Society;  and  was  even  attentive  to,  what  is  shamefully 
neglected  in  most  of  our  learned  institutions,  writing  a  good  hand,  and 
acquiring  a  critical  knowledge  of  arithmetic  and  orthography.  The  comple 
tion  of  a  load  of  anchors  to  take  to  Newport,  was  always  to  Greene  a  joyful 
event,  and  it  was  on  one  of  these  visits,  that  he  casually  met  with  Lindley 
Murray. 

Murray  was  of  a  respectable  Quaker  family  in  the  city  of  New  York.  His 
father  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  intelligence,  and  becoming  sensible 
of  the  disadvantages  their  sect  laboured  under  from  want  of  members  pos 
sessing  education,  he  had  liberally  afforded  his  son  every  opportunity  of 
instruction.  Young  •Murray  was  now  on  an  excursion  to  the  eastward,  on  a 
visiting  tour  to  the  settlement  of  Friends,  in  that  quarter  of  the  country. 
Greene  seized  with  avidity  the  opportunity  of  taking  him  with  him  to  his 
father's;  and  Murray  was  so  delighted  to  find  a  congenial  soul  in  the  young 
miller,  that  an  intimacy  ensued,  and  a  mutual  esteem  was  created  that  never 
subsided. 

From  Murray's  funds  of  knowledge  it  may  well  be  supposed,  that  Greene 
did  not  fail  to  draw  largely.  The  following  winter,  he  prevailed  on  his 
father  to  permit  him  to  visit  Murray  in  New  York;  and  on  that  occasion, 
gave  another  specimen  of  that  decisive  turn  of  mind,  which,  in  after  life,  be 
came  so  conspicuous.  It  is  well  known  how  much  the  small-pox  was  dreaded 
at  that  time.  Injudicious  treatment  had  made  it  a  most  formidable  disease; 
and  passing  through  it,  was  considered  a  crisis  in  human  life.  Greene  saw 
the  importance  of  passing  that  crisis ;  he  felt,  that  he  was  not  destined  to  spend 
his  life  in  the  obscurity  of  Potowome,  and  as  the  small-pox  was  then  in  New 
York,  he  availed  himself  of  that  opportunity  to  be  inoculated  for  it.  The 
blemish  in  one  eye  was  the  result  of  contracting  that  disease. 


14  ,    MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

• 

CHAP.  Thus  passed  the  days  of  our  hero  until  he  reached  his  twentieth  year.  It 
not  be  supposed,  notwithstanding  his  extraordinary  application,  that  he 
partook  not  in  common  with  tho  onmpaniona  of  his  youth,  of  the  sports  and 
amusements  adapts _eo  nis  time  of  life.  Before  he  became  absorbed  in  study, 
-  his  eminence  in  the  sports  and  exercises  of  the  country  proved  that  he  partook 
of  them  largely.  And  nothing  of  moroseness,  or  indifference  to  join  in,  or 
contribute  to  the  enjoyment  of  others,  followed  upon  the  change  given  to  the 
direction  of  his  thoughts.  He  was  of  a  cheerful  turn  of  mind,  and  even  the 
sprightly  dance  would  have  been  a  favourite  amusement  with  him,  but  for  the 
utter  abhorrence  entertained  by  his  stern  father  for  this  carnal  indulgence. 
Yet,  as  it  led  to  female  society,  of  which  he  was  passionately  fond,  his  sense 
of  duty,  and  dread  of  an  athletic  arm,  were  not  altogether  sufficient  to  resist 
the  influence  of  this  allurement.  A  descent  from  the  eves  of  the  house  was 
found  practicable,  and  scandal  says,  that  Nathanael  Greene  could  be  gay 
among  die  gayest.  When  the  long  winter  evening  gathered  the  village  youth 
around  the  social  hearth,  and  when  the  sprightly  violin  was  expected  to 
enliven  the  social  group,  he  would  seldom  fail  to  risk  his  neck  to  partake  of 
the  amusement.  He  was  too  much  the  favourite  among  the  village  lasses,  not 
to  receive  regular  and  authentic  intelligence  on  these  subjects.  Yet  the  vigi 
lance  of  the  argus  who  watched  over  his  morals,  and  who  fondly  looked 
forward  to  him  as  a  successor  on  the  floor  of  the  meeting-house,  could  not 
always  sleep.  Actual  detection  soon  followed  suspicions,  and  nothing  but  the 
timely  and  military  interposition  of  a  rearguard,  promptly  thrust  up  his  clothes 
under  cover  of  night,  could  have  protected  his  back  from  the  pain  of  severe 
castigation,  inflicted  by  an  angry  father. 

The  mind  of  man,  even  in  his  earliest  years,  revolts  at  unnatural  and 
unnecessary  privation.  Children  well  know  when  they  are  justly  treated; 
and  in  pursuit  of  the  indulgences  adapted  to  their  years,  exhibit  a  perseve 
rance  and  ingenuity  under  opposition,  which  are  too  apt  to  lead  to  habits  of 
obstinacy,  disobedience,  and  deception. 

In  time,  the  Spartan  discipline  of  the  father  prevailed ;  and  aided  by  his 
own  strong  moral  sense,  and  the  resources  for  amusement  which  he  found  in 
books,  his  habits  became  perfectly  subdued  and  regular.  Nay,  very  early  in 
.  life,  in  imitation  of  the  frugal  habits  of  Lacedcmon,  he  adopted  the  most 
abstemious  regimen :  a  single  cup  of  tea  or  coffee  was  his  breakfast,  and  for 
the  rest  of  the  clay,  one  solid  meal  sufficed.  This  was  altogether  spontaneous, 

Nor  was  he  less  a  disciplinarian  than  his  father.  By  common  consent, 
notwithstanding  he  had  senior  brothers,  he  was  generally  viewed  as  second  in 
command.  And  when  the  old  gentleman  was  absent,  which  he  sometimes 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  15 

was,  on  a  circular  visit  to  the  Quaker  establishments,  the  younger  boys  found   CHAP. 
it  no  time  of  respite  from  labour.     It  was  a  common  cause,  and  every  asso-  ^^~^^f 
date  must  do  his  duty,  under  the  same  penalties  which  had  been  so  forcibly 
inflicted  at  times  by  the  commander  in  chief.     Yet  he  was  just  hi  his  severity, 
or  intended  to  be  so,  and  no  enmity  ensued.     As  much  harmony  and  love 
prevailed,  as  was  consistent  with  good  government. 

During  this  time,  his  reading  was  of  necessity  very  miscellaneous.  He 
read  every  book  that  came  in  his  way,  and  exhibited  a  disposition  to  select, 
only  when  his  little  earnings  -were  to  bo  appropriated,  and  a  permanent  acces 
sion  made  to  his  scanty  library.  Swift  was  among  his  favourite  authors,  and 
he  always  endeavoured  to  imitate  the  strong,  chaste,  and  lucid  style  of  this 
author.  Nor  did  he  fail ;  for  he  wrote  with  facility,  in  the  clear  and  manly 
style  of  this  author,  from  the  earliest  time  of  which  any  specimens  of  his 
correspondence  are  preserved. 

The  works  of  Swift,  and  of  all  the  most  eminent  writers  of  the  Eng 
lish  Augustan  age,  were  added  to  his  library,  as  soon  as  he  could  accumu 
late  the  means  of  procuring  them ;  and  he  had  taste  to  enjoy  their  contents, 
and  a  mind  and  application  to  make  their  wisdom  his  own.  The  reading  of 
history  he  vvas  particularly  devoted  to,  and  the  survivors  of  those  who  per 
sonally  knew  him,  are  unanimous  in  expressing  their  surprise  at  the  generality 
and  minuteness  of  his  historical  knowledge.  Indeed,  he  never  spent  a  day, 
whilst  a  book  could  be  procured,  without  reading  something;  and  even  during 
the  most  busy  scenes  of  the  war,  after  all  die  necessary  business  of  the  camp 
was  dispatched,  he  commonly  read  till  midnight. 

But  at  the  period  of  which  we  are  speaking,  there  was  a  new  direction 
given  to  his  inquiries,  and  in  addition  to  his  other  pursuits,  he  actually 
acquired  a  very  tolerable  stock  of  legal  knowledge. 

By  the  death  of  his  two  brothers  by  the  first  marriage,  his  father  became 
involved  in  a  lawsuit,  on  a  question  which  elicited  all  the  abstruse  learning  on 
contingent  remainders  and  executory  devises.  The  father  began  already  to 
feel  the  superiority  of  the  son,  and  he  gladly  delegated  to  him  the  superinten 
dence  of  a  business  so  wholly  new  to  himself.  This  introduced  him  to  courts 
of  justice,  and  to  an  acquaintance  with  the  gentlemen  of  the  bar;  and  as  he 
seldom  failed  to  acquire  die  esteem  of  those  who  knew  him,  he  soon  formed 
a  general  acquaintance  among  a  class  of  society  hitherto  new  to  him,  but 
in  whose  conversation  and  company  he  soon  took  great  delight.  He  became 
fond  of  attending  at  the  sittings  of  the  courts,  and,  at  length,  added  second 
hand  copies  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  and  Jacob's  Law  Dictionary  to 
his  library.  With  these,  he  sat  down  seriously  to  the  study  of  die  law. 


.16  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  "\Vithout  the  most  distant  intention  ever  to  follow  it  as  a  profession,  he  promptly 
,  that  in  a  country  where  every  member  of  society  is  a  member  of  the 
administration,  a  general  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  its  jurisprudence  is 
indispensable  to  him  who  would  become  an  useful  or  conspicuous  citizen. 
To  him,  too,  it  was  a  new  journey  of  discovery;  every  hill  he  ascended, 
opened  new  views  to  him,  and  though  sterile  as  the  sands,  they  had  novelty, 
and  the  consciousness  of  still  adding  something  to  his  stock  of  knowledge 
to  recommend  the  pursuit  to  him.  He  saw,  also,  that  it  was  of  die  greatest 
importance  to  keep  up  an  acquaintance  with  tho  class  of  society  to  which  he 
had  been  thus  recently  introduced.  Their  manners  were  those  of  gentlemen, 
and  furnished  him  with  a  model,  which  he  must  imitate,  should  he  ever  enter 
into  a  more  enlarged  sphere  of  life.  He  accordingly  prevailed  upon  his 
father  to  invite  them  occasionally  to  his  house,  when  the  court  sat  in  East 
Greenwich,  and  thus  formed  an  acquaintance  with  many  respectable  men, 
with  whom  he  had  afterwards  to  associate,  during  the  trying  scenes  of  the 
revolution.  And  his  promptness  at  observing,  and  facility  at  imitating,  ena 
bled  him  soon  to  acquire  much  of  that  easy  and  courtly  address,  which  can 
only  be  acquired  by  mixing  with  the  cultivated  classes  of  society. 

Greene  was  in  the  twenty -third  year  of  his  age,  when  the  celebrated  stamp- 
act  became  the  subject  of  general  investigation.  Politics  had  hitherto  occu 
pied  very  little  of  his  attention;  his  ambition  had  scarcely  ever  been  excited 
but  by  a  hope,  which  his  modesty  still  threw  to  a  fearful  distance.  The 
religious  tenets  of  his  sect,  his  own  humble  employments,  his  age,  and  want 
of  education,  all  conspired  to  detach  him  from  the  thoughts  of  entering  imme 
diately  into  public  life.  But  it  was  not  to  be  expected,  that  his  ardent  mind 
should  be  insensible  to  the  general  excitement  produced  by  that  threatening 
measure  of  die  British  ministry.  He  soon  caught  the  flame  that  had  spread 
over  the  American  continent,  and,  as  was  his  habit,  sat  down  very  seriously 
to  study  the  subject,  so  as  to  master  it  maturely.  The  authors  on  politics  and 
jurisprudence  of  that  day,  were  familiarly  quoted  in  the  newspapers  and  public 
declamations;  and  more  studied  and  canvassed  than,  perhaps,  even  at  present. 
The  discussions  of  the  times  of  the  commonwealth,  were  stiJl  in  the  recollec 
tion  of  all,  particularly  the  descendants  of  those,  who,  about  that  time,  emi 
grated  to  this  country.  The  various  revolutions  of  a  hundred  eventful  years 
of  English  history,  had  firmly  established  the  constitutional,  or  rather  civil 
rights  of  the  English  subject.  The  charter  of  James  I.  to  the  people  of  Virginia, 
which,  on  this  point,  was  considered  as  the  Magna  Charta  of  America, 
secured  all  those  rights  to  the  American  colonists.  Although,  in  the  reign  of 
that  monarch,  those  rights  were  very  weakly  established,  or  indistinctly  under- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  17 

Stood,  a  scries  of  important  events  had  now  fixed  them  on  a  basis  which  was  CHAP. 
not  to  be  shaken.  The  sturdy  republicans  who  had  swarmed  to  the  United  s^^-x.' 
States,  understood  them  well,  and  had,  moreover,  very  distinctly  given  their 
sovereigns  to  understand,  that  they  were  ready  to  fight  to  maintain  them. 
Their  principles  and  their  knowledge,  were  carefully  transmitted  to  their  pos 
terity  ;  and,  equally  removed  from  the  fascinations  and  impositions  of  royalty, 
the  elevated  sentiments  of  the  best  days  of  Greece,  of  Rome,  and  of  England, 
existed  in  high  preservation  among  a  large  proportion  of  the  American  people. 
In  the  litde  circle  in  which  Greene  moved,  this  was  particularly  the  case. 
Not  even  die  dampening  effect  of  rigid  Quakerism,  could  suppress  the  feeling 
of  republicanism,  which  always  exhibited  itself  in  that  quarter.  They  were 
almost  to  a  man  related  to  each  other,  and  the  regular  descendants  of  Gorton's 
persecuted  followers.  To  them,  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  their  ancestors 
had  been  transmitted,  in  many  a  winter's  evening's  conversation,  and  the 
very  name  of  oppression,  struck  upon  a  chord  that  vibrated  to  every  heart. 

When  it  was,  that  a  part  of  Greene's  family  became  Quakers,  is  not  known, 
but  originally  they  were  not  so,  nor  were  they  ever  all  so.  And  of  those  who 
were,  they  generally  must  have  been  of  that  description  commonly  denomi 
nated  fighting  Quakers.  The  original  proprietor  of  the  Potowome  Mills,  had 
recently  sold  out  to  Greene's  father,  (his  copartner  and  younger  brother,)  to 
pursue  a  military  career  as  an  officer  in  the  Canadian  war.  And  whatever 
may  have  been  the  severity  of  the  father's  tenets,  there  was  no  one  of  the 
sons  who  hesitated  at  braving  the  anathemas  of  the  meeting,  when  summoned 
away  by  the  sound  of  the  drum. 

In  the  midst  of  such  society,  it  would  have  been  wonderful,  if  the  ardent 
mind  and  warm  feelings  of  our  hero  had  not  become  deeply  interested  in  the 
discussions  of  the  day.  He  soon  became  firmly  convinced  of  the  justness  of 
the  American  cause,  and  as  firmly  resolved  to  take  part  in  the  opposition. 
But,  as  yet,  the  effects  of  early  habit  and  education  hung  too  heavily  upon  him 
to  admit  of  his  aspiring  to  military  command. 

It  was  not  long  before  an  event  occurred,  which  wholly  changed  the  direc 
tion  of  his  thoughts,  and  pointed  out  to  him  the  career  for  which  heaven  had 
destined  him. 

The"  sons  were  now  generally  well  grown,  and  the  vigour,  skill,  industry, 
and  fidelity  of  eight  such  labourers,  showered  down  wealth  upon  the  venerable 
parent.  He  resolved  to  extend  his  business,  and  accordingly  purchased 
another  mill-scat  at  Coventry,  in  the  same  neighbourhood  t  eight  or  ten  miles 
distant  from  Potowome. 

3 


18  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

To  the  charge  of  this  establishment  Nathanael  had  bcm  advanced,  and  he 
admitted  to  a  participation  in  the  profits  of  the  concern.  This  to  him 
was  a  most  enviable  change;  it  gave  him  the  command  of  money,  and  that 
was  the  command  of  books.  In  a  few  years,  he  accumulated  a  library  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  volumes ;  which,  at  that  time,  in  that  remote  place,  was 
viewed  as  a  prodigy.  It  also  gave  him,  comparatively,  a  command  of  time. 
And  one  of  the  uses  he  made  of  that  time,  decided  his  fate. 

In  the  year  1773,  the  states  had  begun  seriously  to  organize  and  discipline 
their  militia ;  and  a  grand  parade  was  announced  to  take  place  at  Plainficld, 
in  Connecticut,  not  far  distant  from  the  Coventry  Mills. 

Military  parades,  and  assemblages  leading  to  idleness,  had  always  been 
prohibited  to  die  sons,  as  sternly  as  cards  or  dancing.  But  the  day  arrived, 
the  country  was  all  moving  towards  the  gala  scene,  and  Greene  could  not 
resist  the  impulse.  He  mounted  his  horse,  and  galloped  away  with  the  rest. 
And  here  he  first  saw  an  assemblage  of  men,  "  in  all  the  pomp  and  circum 
stance  of  glorious  war."  From  that  time,  he  could  think  of  nothing  else.  It 
was  in  vain  that  the  father  reprimanded  severely,  and  the  church  threatened 
to  throw  him  over  the  wall;  nothing  could  afterwards  prevent  him  from 
devoting  his  thoughts  to  a  military  life. 

Military  books  became  now  a  necessary  of  life,  and  it  was  not  to  be 
expected,  that  his  early  friend  and  mentor,  Dr.  Stiles,  could  direct  him,  or 
would  encourage  him  in  this  study;  he  was  left  to  grope  in  the  dark.  Acci 
dent  threw  in  his  way  Marshal  Turenne's  works,  and  Sharp's  Military  Guide; 
and  under  these  two  preceptors  he  entered  himself  a  disciple  of  Mars.  From 
these  books  his  attention  was  directed  to  others  on  the  same  subject,  and  by 
the  aid  of  his  friend  in  New  York,  and  occasional  trips  to  Newport,  he  was 
enabled  to  make  a  respectable  collection  of  military  books.  Plutarch  now 
became  his  bosom  companion;  a  translation  of  Caesar  also  afforded  him  a 
treasure  of  amusement  and  information ;  and  with  a  military  eye  he  read  and 
studied  the  history  of  all  the  wars  of  celebrity,  both  ancient  and  modern. 

But  the  vigilant  eye  of  the  peaceful  disciples  of  John  Fox  did  not  let  the 
visit  to  Coventry  pass  unnoticed.  He  was  duly  summoned  to  answer  for  this 
breach  of  ecclesiastical  rule,  and  warned,  that  he  must  discontinue  such  prac 
tices,  or  be  debarred  the  privilege  of  mingling  his  dust  with  theirs.  The 
charge  against  him,  as  it  stands  on  the  minutes  of  the  monthly  meeting,  is 
that  of  "  attending  a  place  of  public  resort,  where  he  had  no  proper  business." 
A  committee  was  duly  appointed  "  to  visit  him  on  the  subject,"  and  that 
committee  reported,  "  that  they  had  treated  with  him,  but  he  had  not  given 
any  satisfaction  as  yet,"  Still,  however,  the  door  of  repentance  was  kept 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  19 

open  to  him ;  but,  after  holding  the  subject  for  several  months  under  advise-    CHAP. 
ment,  the  meeting  despaired  of  recalling  the  prodigal,  and  entered  in  their  ^-^-^ 
minutes  the  following  record  of  his  final  doom:  "  As  he  has  not  given  the 
meeting  any  satisfaction  for  his  outgoing  and  misconduct,  therefore  this  meet 
ing  doth  put  liim  from  under  the  care  of  the  meeting,  until  he  make  satisfac 
tion  for  his  misconduct." 

Such  satisfaction  was  never  made,  for  in  this  conflict  of  duties  he  wisely 
decided  to  obey  the  calls  of  his  country.  Yet  he  always  entertained  the  most 
pious  veneration  for  the  sect,  and  never  let  pass  an  opportunity  of  doing 
towards  them  a  civil  or  benevolent  action.  He  always,  in  fact,  professed 
himself  a  Quaker,  but  modelled  his  duties  as  such,  to  the  state  of  society  in 
which  God  and  nature  had  placed  him.  Yet  he  not  unfrequently  afterwards 
had  occasion  to  charge  some  of  the  sect  with  making  their  peace  principles 
subservient  to  their  political  or  avaricious  views.  Of  what  sect  are  there  not 
hypocrites  ? 

He  had  been  established  but  a  few  years  in  Coventry,  when  he  was  elected 
to  represent  the  county  in  the  state  legislature.  This  was  in  the  year  1770. 
And  from  that  time,  even  until  after  he  took  command  of  the  southern  army, 
he  was  uniformly  returned  as  a  member  from  the  same  county.  His  military 
engagements  whilst  in  the  army,  of  course  prevented  his  attendance  as  a 
member,  except  on  extraordinary  occasions ;  but  he  had,  by  that  time,  acquired 
a  popularity  in  the  state,  and  a  distinction  as  a  commander,  which  made  his 
constituents  unwilling  to  give  him  up. 

At  the  Coventry  Mills  a  genteel  establishment  was  prepared  for  him ;  and 
he  led,  for  several  years,  a  studious  and  retired  life.  Yet  order,  neatness, 
industry,  and  hospitality  reigned  in  his  house ;  and  the  fame  of  his  acquire 
ments  and  of  his  library,  was  already  diffused  through  the  state.  There  is 
still  living  a  highly  respectable  gentleman  of  that  state,  who  has  filled  several 
conspicuous  offices,  who  remembers  to  ha\  e  visited  him  in  this  place,  in  search 
of  some  rare  book  which  could  not  be  procured  in  Providence.  His  object, 
was  his  only  introduction ;  but  the  social  converse  of  one  evening  fastened  his 
affections  on  his  hospitable  and  interesting  entertainer,  for  the  residue  of  his 
life.  He  is  himself  a  man  of  liberal  education,  and  at  that  time  filled  the 
place  of  a  professor  in  tiie  college.  He  was,  therefore,  competent  to  judge  of 
the  mind  and  acquirements  of  his  new  acquaintance,  and  was  often  after 
wards  heard  to  declare,  "  Mr.  Greene  was  a  very  extraordinary  man."  Of 
his  habits  of  early  rising,  he  well  remembers  tli«s  particular.  That  being 
under  the  necessity  of  reaching  Providence  at  the  hour  of  recitation,  he  apolo 
gized  over  night  to  his  host  for  the  necessity  he  was  under  of  leaving  the  house 


20  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,    before  the  family  would  be  up  in  the  morning.     But  what  was  his  surprize  at 
v^,^^/  finding  in  the  morning  the  table  neatly  set,  his  breakfast  ready,  and  Greene 
at  the  fireside  poring  over  a  book,  before  daybreak. 

This  habit  of  early  rising  had  heen  early  inculcated  on  him  by  his  father. 
He  invariably  adhered  to  it  through  life,  and  the  consequence  with  him,  as 
with  all  early  risers,  was,  that  he  was  always  beforehand  in  his  affairs.  Few 
men  have  prospered  in  the  world,  or  enjoyed  vigorous  health,  good  appetites, 
well  ordered  houses,  and  unclouded  tempers,  who  were  not  early  risers. 
'*  The  morning  speeds  the  traveller  and  the  plough."  Greene  found,  or  made 
a  sufficiency  of  time  for  labour,  for  study,  and  for  the  society  of  his  friends ; 
nor  was  he  Inattentive  to  his  duties  to  society.  The  first  school  ever  estab 
lished  at  Coventry,  was  set  up  under  his  auspices,  and  it  was  his  constant 
habit  to  persuade  and  assist  all  around  him  to  improve  every  opportunity  of 
acquiring  useful  kuowledge  of  every  kind.  Thus  occupied,  he  advanced  to 
his  thirty-fourth  year. 

But  there  is  a  void  in  the  heart  of  man  that  woman  only  can  fill  up.  His 
circumstances  now  admitted  of  his  marrying,  and  the  object  of  his  choice 
yielded  to  his  solicitations. 

In  July  1774,  he  married  Catharine  Littlcfield,  then  in  her  eighteenth  year. 
A  lady  of  respectable  connexions,  an  agreeable  person,  sprightly,  interesting, 
and  intelligent,  and  altogether  an  exceedingly  engaging  woman.  To  the  sub 
stantial  enjoyment  of  life,  there  was  now  nothing  wanting.  But  the  political 
horizon  bore  a  portentous  aspect,  and  public  duty  was  soon  to  claim  him  from 
the  arms  of  his  family. 

As  a  member  of  the  legislature,  he  had  taken  a  decided  part  against  the 
royal  government,  and  the  firmness,  public  spirit,  and  great  good  sense  which 
he  displayed  on  all  occasions,  had  acquired  for  him  a  highly  respectable 
standing  in  that  body.  He  seldom  spoke,  for  a  consciousness  of  his  want  of 
early  education  hung  upon  him,  and  rendered  him  diffident.  But  when  he 
did,  his  manner  was  bold,  commanding,  and  unembarrassed,  and  he  was 
listened  to  with  marked  attention.  Yet  he  was  often  employed  on  important 
committees.  And  on  one  occasion,  w7hen  envoys  were  to  be  sent  to  Connec 
ticut  to  concert  measures  preparatory  to  arming  for  defence,  he  was  one  of  the 
delegates  selected.  This  was  a  delightful  opportunity  to  Greene  to  visit  his 
early  and  venerable  friend,  Stiles,  then  President  of  Yale,  and  he  gladly 
embraced  it.  An  entry  on  the  minutes  of  the  legislature  shows,  that  his 
expenses  on  this  mission  amounted  to  ten  pounds,  about  thirty-three  dollars. 
Such  were  the  frugal  habits  of  the  men  of  that  day. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  21 

It  was  in  the  Kentish  Guards,  and  in  the  year  1774,  that  Greene  first  CHAP. 
assumed  the  panoply  of  the  soldier.  He  had  now  thrown  off  die  respectable  ^~^^/ 
dress  which,  with  many  excellent  qualities  and  correct  opinions  covers  a  few 
tenets  not  adapted  to  this  sublunary  world.  The  corps  that  he  had  joined,  was 
organized  under  a  law  of  the  state,  in  imitation  of  the  British  Guards,  and 
their  captain  took  the  rank  of  colonel.  It  was  composed  of  the  most  respect 
able  young  men  of  the  country,  the  sturdy  yeomenry,  the  companions  of  his 
youth.  And  never,  perhaps,  in  the  same  number  of  men,  did  there  exist  more 
excellent  materials  for  a  military  corps.  More  than  thirty  of  them  bore  com 
missions  afterwards  in  the  revolution,  and  several  became  highly  distinguished 
officers.  Greene  proposed  himself  as  a  candidate  for  a  lieutenancy,  but  did 
not  succeed.  His  Quaker  education  most  probably  prevented  him.  Yet, 
unabated  by  this '  defeat,  his  military  ardour  felt  nothing  of  the  dampening 
influence  of  disappointment,  but  displayed  itself  in  a  devoted  attention  to 
excel  in  all  the  discipline  and  manoeuvres  of  a  single  corps.  An  opportunity 
soon  presented  itself  of  exhibiting  a  specimen  of  that  daring  and  decisive  turn 
of  mind,  tempered  with  proper  wariness  and  caution,  which  so  eminently 
qualified  him  for  military  command. 

The  year  1774  was  a  year  of  very  extraordinary  excitement  throughout  the 
United  States.  Great  Britain  had  wholly  thrown  off  the  mask,  and  the 
necessity  of  open  resistance  was  obvious.  Arming  and  disciplining  was  the 
order  of  the  day.  It  was  die  amusement  of  the  young,  and  even  the  hoary 
head  assumed  the  casque  and  plume,  in  a  late  novitiate,  for  the  approaching 
contest.  Good  fire-arms  were  very  scarce,  and  as  every  individual  provided 
for  himself,  it  became  an  object  of  soldierly  pride  to  procure  the  best.  The 
Kentish  Guards,  in  common  with  other  corps,  felt  the  inconvenience,  and 
Greene  more  particularly,  found  it  impossible  in  the  country  to  equip  himself 
in  a  suitable  manner.  Nor  did  any  place  but  Boston  offer  a  prospect  of  sup 
plying  his  wants.  He  soon  formed  his  resolution,  and  as  promptly  carried  it 
into  effect.  An  old  account  due  by  a  customer  of  his  father  was  the  pretext, 
and  an  old  coat  and  hat  of  the  true  Quaker  cut,  well  marked  with  the  evi 
dences  of  his  calling,  furnished  the  passport  which  introduced  him  into  die 
streets  of  Boston. 

Here  a  new  and  interesting  object  caught  his  attention.  The  town  was  full 
of  British  troops.  Morning  and  evening  they  were  regularly  paraded,  and 
here  were  lessons  to  be  received,  that  could  be  acquired  no  where  else  in  the 
United  States.  A  protracted  and  perilous  residence  in  Boston  was  the  conse 
quence;  every  motion  and  manoeuvre  was  carefully  observed  and  noted 
down;  and  in  a  few  days  he  acquired  a  stock  of  military  knowledge,  that  as 


22  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  many  months  would  not  have  taught  him  in  any  other  place.  In  the  mean 
,  he  had  found  means  to  purchase  a  musket  and  accoutrements,  probably 
from  a  deserter;  and  as  the  intercourse  between  the  town  and  country  was 
still  kept  up,  he  managed  to  bribe  a  waggoner  to  conceal  his  purchase  in  the 
straw  in  the  bottom  of  his  waggon.  Thus  were  they  safely  transported  beyond 
the  British  posts,  whilst  he  cautiously  followed  at  a  distance,  anxiously  watch 
ing  the  success  of  his  adventure.  Fortune  also  threw  in  his  way  another  boon, 
which  proved  of  no  small  utility  in  training  the  corps  of  which  he  was  a 
member.  This  was  an  experienced  British  Serjeant,  a  deserter  whom  he  either 
brought  out  of  Boston  with  him,  or  met  with  on  the  road,  which,  is  now 
forgotten.  But  the  man  is  still  remembered,  and  his  excellence  as  a  fugleman, 
gave  a  taste  and  style  to  the  discipline  of  the  guards,  which  is  still  the  subject 
of  eulogium. 

On  the  next  parade  Greene  made  his  appearance  with  his  new  musket  and 
his  drill-master,  and  die  adventure  being  soon  noised  abroad,  acquired  him  no 
small  eclat  among  his  compatriots.  The  musket  is  still  in  the  family,  after 
having  been  faithfully  used,  and  almost  superstitiously  guarded  for  more  than 
forty  years. 

Another  event  not  long  after  occurred,  which  afforded  him  a  new  oppor 
tunity  of  exhibiting  his  spirit  and  zeal  in  the  cause  he  had  espoused. 

On  the  19 tli  of  April  1775,  in  the  memorable  affair  of  Lexington,  the  soil  of 
America  first  drank  the  blood  of  her  sons,  shed  by  the  hands  of  Englishmen. 
The  combat  was  warmly  kept  up  the  whole  day,  and  before  night  Rhode 
Island  was  alarmed  with  the  intelligence,  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
were  engaged  in  mortal  affray  with  the  English  troops.  The  whig  corps  all 
beat  to  arms,  and  the  Kentish  Guards  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  Boston. 
Unfortunately,  Wanton,  the  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  at  that  time,  was  very 
much  of  a  loyalist,  and  was  not  at  all  pleased  with  this  exhibition  of  spirit  in 
the  Kentish  Guards.  Their  rout  lay  through  Providence,  the  place  of  his 
residence.  He  very  soon  dispatched  a  message  after  them,  ordering  them 
back.  They  received  it  with  indignation,  but  the  officers  did  not  fee!  them.- 
selves  at  liberty  to  refuse  obedience.  Not  so  with  Greene;  at  all  hazards,  he 
was  resolved  to  fly  to  the  assistance  of  the  whigs,  and  having  communicated 
his  intention  to  three  of  his  most  trusty  friends,  including  one  oi*  his  brothers, 
the  four  immediately  procured  horses,  and  with  reeking  spurs,  hastened  on  to 
Boston.  But  it  was  too  late;  the  British  army  that  night  retired  into  Boston. 
and  the  intelligence  met  his  gallant  little  band  before  they  had  passed  quite 
half  way  of  their  intended  journey. 


o 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  23 

By  this  time,  the  corps  began  to  acknowledge  that  they  were  ignorant  of  CHAP. 
the  character  and  just  claims  of  the  man  whom  they  had  rejected  as  their  ^-^^s 
lieutenant.     His  superiority  and  spirit  became  obvious  to  all,  and  the  example 
he  set  of  zeal  and  discipline  as  a  private,  convinced  them,  that  he  who  knew 
so  well  how  to  obey,  must  be  qualified  to  command.     Many  of  them  had  soon 
an  opportunity  of  giving  a  shining  example  of  candour  and  disinterestedness 
toward  him. 

It  was  now  obvious  to  all,  that  the  struggle  between  the  colonies  and  the 
mother  country,  must  end  in  an  appeal  to  the  sword.  Great  Britain  persisted 
in  her  odious  assertions  of  power,  and  the  means  to  which  she  had  resorted  to 
enforce  its  exercise,  plainly  avowed,  that  she  considered  the  colonies  as  holding 
then-  lives,  liberties,  and  fortunes  at  the  will  of  a  despotic  parliament.  Such 
measures  could  only  have  been  intended  to  drive  the  colonies  to  open  resist 
ance,  in  order  to  furnish  a  plausible  pretext  for  actual  subjugation.  Such  has 
often  been  the  policy  of  rulers.  In  producing  the  state  of  tilings  which  justi 
fied  the  attempts  of  the  ministry  to  sweep  away  before  her  armies  all  the 
chartered  rights  of  the  colonists,  the  ministry  were  successful;  but  heaven 
denied  to  them  the  fruition  of  its  expected  consequences. 

Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Lexington,  the  Massachusetts  legislature 
resolved  on  collecting  an  armed  force,  and  confining  the  British  under  Gage 
to  the  limits  of  Boston.  Deputies  were  dispatched  to  Rhode  Island  and  Con 
necticut,  demanding  their  co-operation.  The  request  was  promptly  complied 
with,  and  Rhode  Island  proceeded  to  organize  what  was  called  her  "  army  of 
observation."  This  consisted  of  sixteen  hundred  men,  enlisted  till  the  31st  of 
December  1775.  In  officering  this  army,  it  is  a  very  singular  circumstance, 
that  the  eyes  of  all  should  have  been  turned  upon  an  humble  private  in  the 
Kentish  Guards.  No  better  evidence  of  the  degree  to  which  Greene  grow 
upon  all  who  became  acquainted  with  him  can  be  adduced,  than  this  highly 
honourable  selection;  his  subsequent  conduct  proved  the  judgement  of  the 
men  who  chose  him.  Among  those  who  were  selected  as  officers  under  him, 
were  several  of  the  officers  of  the  Kentish  Guards.  The  captain  of  the 
Guards,  who  ranked  as  colonel,  was  elected  a  colonel  in  the  new  levies,  and 
the  celebrated  Christopher  Greene,  the  hero  of  Red  Bank,  was  one  of  his 
majors.  General  Varnum  was  of  the  same  number.  Such  were  the  virtues 
and  self-denial  of  the  times.  Men  whose  after-conduct  bore  ample  testimony 
to  their  high  worth  and  understanding,  cheerfully  surrendered  the  sensitive 
feelings  of  military  pride  to  the  good  of  the  country;  and  superior  to  the  daz 
zling  influence  of  self-love  or  vanity,  could  forego  their  just  claims  of  prefer- 


4,  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  ence  in  favour  of  one  in  whom  they  had  sense  to  discover,  and  magnanimity 
v«v,  to  acknowledge  superior  talents  for  command. 

The  astonishing  rapidity  with  which  the  Rhode  Island  contingent  was 
raised,  organized,  and  marched  to  the  scene  of  action,  adds  infinite  credit  to 
jlie  patriotism  of  the  state. 

Indeed,  when  posterity  shall  distribute  justice  with  impartial  hand  among 
the  states,  Rhode  Island,  diminutive  as  it  is  in  territory,  will  stand  pre-emi 
nent  for  the  spirit  and  vigour  with  which  she  supported  the  revolutionary  war. 
It  was  not  with  her  the  cause  of  Massachusetts;  there  was  nothing  to  be 
ascribed  to  contiguity  or  consanguinity;  jealousies  and  ill  will  had  prevailed 
between  these  two  states.  Rhode  Island  viewed  Massachusetts  as  the  op 
pressor  and  persecutor  of  her  forefathers,  and  Massachusetts,  in  addition  to 
the  feelings  which  accompany  a  consciousness  of  having  done  an  injury,  never 
cordially  forgave  the  Rhode  Islanders,  for  having  eluded  her  claims  of  domi 
nion.  These  early  causes  have  left  their  traces  so  deeply  engraven,  that  to 
this  day  there  is  a  want  of  cordial  feeling  plainly  to  be  discovered,  at  least, 
among  the  less  enlightened  classes  in  these  two  states.  But  every  disagreeable 
recollection  was  magnanimously  sacrificed  by  Rhode  Island.  And  in  the  short 
space  of  forty-eight  days,  at  the  requisition  of  Massachusetts,  she  raised, 
officered,  equipped,  and  marched  to  the  rendezvous,  sixteen  hundred  men,  of 
as  high  promise,  and  as  well  disciplined  and  officered,  as  any  that  were  assem 
bled.  Rhode  Island  has  not  yet  had  her  historian  to  palliate  her  faults,  and 
blazon  her  fame  in  the  eyes  of  posterity.  But  when  one  shall  arise,  he  will 
find  other  events  beside  this  to  relate  highly  to  her  honour.  The  great  states 
of  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  are  contending  for  the  honour  of  having  led  in 
the  revolution,  but  perhaps,  upon  inquiry  it  will  be  found,  that  the  first  daring 
and  decisive  act  was  done  in  Rhode  Island.  This  was  in  taking  possession  of 
the  king's  artillery,  as  soon  as  the  proclamation  readied  them  prohibiting  the 
exportation  of  arms  and  ammunition  from  Great  Britain;  and  openly,  by  an 
act  of  the  government,  encouraging  the  importation  from  other  quarters,  of  die 
articles  necessary  to  equip  themselves  for  war.  And  even  in  declaring  for 
independence,  Rhode  Island  took  the  lead  of  most,  if  not  all,  the  states.  In 
April  '76  this  bold  and  decisive  step  was  taken,  in  the  midst  of  internal  dis- 
sention,  and  under  the  eye  of  a  powerful  British  army.  A  tribute  of  respect 
was  also  paid  that  state  by  the  common  enemy,  which  no  other  state  can 
boast  of.  Long  as  the  British  army  was  in  possession  of  Newport,  they  made 
no  seriour  efforts  to  reduce  the  country.  And  very  cautious  were  they  at  all 
times,  how  they  ventured  from  the  security  of  their  insular  situation  and 
entrenchments.  The  more  credit  is  due  this  state,  also,  from  having  both  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  2 

govenior  and  lieutenant-governor  decided  loyalists,  so  that  the  secretary  of  CHAP. 
state,  the  first  whig  in  the  descending  line,  was  obliged  to  sign  the  comniis-  ^-^^ 
sions  of  the  officers ;  and  all  other  acts  of  the  whigs  were  authenticated  in  the 
same  manner. 

It  was  in  May  1775  that  Greene  was  elected  commander  of  the  Rhode 
Island  contingent  of  the  army  of  observation ;  and  such  was  the  avidity  with 
which  the  hardy  yeomanry  of  that  country  enrolled  themselves  under  his 
standard,  that  in  a  very  few  days  his  command  wras  complete.  Much  of  this 
no  doubt  is  attributable  to  the  popularity  of  the  cause,  but  it  cannot  be 
doubted,  that  his  own  high  standing  in  the  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens, 
and  that  of  the  officers  selected  to  serve  under  him,  contributed  greatly  to  fill 
up  his  ranks.  He  was  soon  ready  to  depart  in  his  new  career;  his  brothers 
cheerfully  undertook  to  discharge  his  part  of  the  common  duty,  and  in  the  true 
character  of  this  primeval  family,  the  business  went  on  as  usual  for  the  com 
mon  account. 

His  father  was  now  dead,  and  the  brothers  had  continued  the  business  of 
the  forges  and  mills,  harmoniously  participating  of  the  proceeds  as  each  stood 
in  need;  fully  confiding  in  each  other's  integrity  and  moderation.  No  jealous 
distrust,  no  wrangling  settlements  ever  took  place  among  them ;  but  when  the 
common  chest  was  full  to  overflowing,  some  purchase  was  made  by  common 
consent,  or  some  addition  to  their  living  or  accommodations.  It  is  a  very 
singular  fact,  and  almost  unprecedented  in  these  times  of  commerce  and  of 
lust  of  wealth,  that  the  two  brothers,  who  at  present  own  the  Potowome  Mills, 
have  toiled  together  for  sixty  years,  and  reared  and  set  out  their  families,  living 
in  common,  and  having  never  had  a  statement  of  accounts  in  all  that  time, 
nor  ever  intending  to  have  one.  Yet  their  business  has  been  lucrative  and 
extensive.  Such  arc  the  benign  effects  of  purity  of  heart  and  disinterested 
ness  of  conduct.  It  was  in  a  school  like  this,  that  Greene  acquired  his  habits 
of  self-devotion.  Accustomed  from  early  life  to  consider  himself  only  as  a 
member  of  a  liitle  community,  to  labour  for  the  common  interest,  and  covet 
no  enjoyment  but  what  he  was  ready  and  desirous  of  participating  in  common 
with  his  fellow  labourers,  selfish  feeling,  that  foul  destroyer  of  all  virtue  and 
all  happiness,  was  in  him  early  subdued,  or  perhaps  never  felt.  The  motives 
that  govern  the  hearts  of  men,  are  soon  discovered  by  the  discerning,  through 
the  veil  too  commonly  thrown  over  human  actions;  often  before  the  individual 
is  himself  conscious  of  their  full  effect  in  influencing  his  conduct.  Nothing 
attaches  the  hearts  of  men,  or  commands  their  confidence  so  much  as  that 
dignified  simplicity  of  conduct  which  results  from  a  consciousness  that  we 
have  no  motive  to  conceal,  and  not  a  wish  inconsistent  with  the  just  claims 

4 


26.  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

of  others.  When  these  qualities  are  blended  with  a  strong  mind,  quirk  parts, 
a  cultivated  understanding,  they  form  the  most  happy  combination  for 
public  usefulness.  Hence  Greene  never  failed  to  acquire  not  only  the  confi 
dence,  but  the  affections  of  all  who  became  acquainted  with  him.  And  it 
may  be  truly  said  of  him,  that  he  never  lost  a  friend,  whose  worth  entitled 
him  to  that  honourable  appellation,  nor  public  esteem,  but  whilst  his  character 
was  obscured  by  calumny  or  misconstruction. 

The  most  honourable  proof  of  this  observation  is  to  be  found  in  the  fast 
hold  he  ever  held  in  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  commander  in  chieC 
Washington  soon  distinguished  him  among  the  numerous  military  acquaint 
ance  introduced  to  him  before  Boston.  There  is  a  sympathy  between  talents 
and  integrity,  by  which  those  who  possess  these  qualities  intuitively  discover 
them  in  others.  And  in  addition;  there  was  in  our  hero  a  calmness  that 
notliing  could  ruffle,  a  firmness  that  nothing  could  shake,  and  a  deference  of 
manner  and  inviting  openness  of  countenance,  that  ever  rendered  him  a  favo 
rite  with  his  officers  and  soldiers.  It  will  be  found  in  the  course  of  these  pages, 
that  he  became  the  object  both  of  admiration  and  of  individual  attachment 
to  most  of  the  celebrated  men,  both  natives  and  foreigners,  who  figured  hi  the 
American  revolution ;  and  there  are  living  witnesses  who  have  heard  the  late 
General  Hamilton  declare,  that  he  wanted  notliing  but  an  education  to  have 
made  him  the  first  man  in  the  United  States.  General  Hamilton  no  doubt 
meant,  with  the  exception  of  the  commander  in  chief,  and  uttered  himself 
with  his  characteristic  warmth,  not  a  little  heightened  by  individual  feeling; 
for  Greene's  quick  eye  had  first  marked  him  out  for  future  celebrity. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  27 


CHAPTER  II. 


Camp  before  Boston.    Correspondence. 


JuAMENTABLE  was  the  defect  of  military  knowledge  prevailing  in  the   CHAP. 
states  at  the  commencement  of  the  revolution.     The  commander  in  chief  ^^.^^ 
himself,  might,  without  disparagement,  as  a  practical  soldier,  be  pronounced 
ignorant:  all  the  service  he  had  ever  seen  was  in  a  few  desultory  campaigns 
against  the  wandering  tribes  of  our  forests;  but  his  fine  combining  head, 
comprehensive  mind,  and  analytic  turn  of  thought,  supplied  the  defect  of 
experience.     Yet,  he  too  had  to  learn  in  the  school  of  adversity. 

All  the  military  knowledge  of  the  country  was  to  be  found  in  a  few  soldiers 
of  fortune,  who  had  sought  retirement  in  the  shades  of  our  forests,  or  were 
attracted  hither  by  the  prospect  of  employment,  or  the  more  honourable  motive 
of  supporting  the  cause.  In  the  instance  of  our  hero,  it  must  be  acknow 
ledged  that  he  was  promoted  to  a  command  for  which  he  was  yet  to  qualify 
himself.  The  sequel  proved,  that  it  was  not  vain  presumption  which  stimu 
lated  him  to  accept  it;  upon  the  most  modest  estimate,  he  was  as  well  quali 
fied  as  any  other  the  state  of  Rhode  Island  could  have  furnished,  and  the 
"  sting  and  goad  of  genius"  impelled  him  to  the  effort  for  which  nature  had 
designed  him;  and  in  which,  with  an  humble  dependence  on  the  God  of 
armies,  he  flattered  himself  with  the  hope  of  serving  his  country,  wliile  he 
acquired  an  honest  fame. 


28  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

It  was  on  the  6th  of  June  1775  that  Greone  assumed  his  command  before 
lines  of  Boston.  From  this  time,  his  history  becomes  identified  with  that 
of  the  country;  but  the  reader  is  not  to  expect  that  under  the  title  of  Sketches 
of  a  life,  the  writer  of  these  pages  means  to  impose  upon  him  a  minute  history 
of  the  American  war.  It  is  not  in  a  general  history,  that  delineations  of 
character  can  be  brought  together  so  as  to  present  them  to  the  eye  in  a  com 
bined  view.  What  is  indispensable  shall  be  presented,  but  brevity  shall  always 
be  consulted.  We  have  chosen  the  date  of  General  Greene's  appointment  to  the 
command  of  the  southern  army,  as  a  resting  point  from  which  to  review  his 
progress  from  early  life;  and  after  tracing  his  course  up  to  that  event,  we  shall 
follow  him  through  his  brilliant,  but  short  career  to  the  grave.  A  succint  view  of 
the  leading  events  of  the  revolutionary,  war  becomes  indispensably  necessary. 
Through  this  alone  can  we  be  understood  when  refering  to  the  part  our  hero 
acted  in  the  transactions  of  that  period.  But  the  thrice  told  tale  shall  not 
arrest  the  reader  any  farther  than  is  indispensable  to  the  explanation  of  his 
part  of  the  drama,  or  of  a  fair  view  of  some  of  the  events  of  the  war,  derived 
from  materials  not  yet  furnished  to  the  historian.  General  Greene's  conduct 
as  a  military  man  has  been  long  before  the  world  and  often  canvassed;  but  as 
his  own  correspondence  has  never  before  been  submitted  to  historical  scrutiny, 
it  is  with  confidence  we  assert,  that  even  his  military  conduct  has  never  been 
fully  explained,  or  duly  appreciated.  So  also  with  his  private  and  confidential 
correspondence.  The  cabinets  of  all  his  most  intimate  friends  have  been  open 
to  us,  and  to  us  alone.  It  is  here  alone  that  the  private  man  is  to  be  traced 
out.  Here  there  is  no  affectation ;  the  picture  is  not  glcssed  over  for  public 
exhibition;  what  he  was,  and  how  he  thought,  and  how  he  wrote,  can  be 
inquired  into  without  one  fear  of  deception.  He,  in  common  with  all  other 
men  who  have  acted  a  conspicuous  part  in  life,  had  at  times  his  enemies;  his 
conduct  was  misunderstood,  misinterpreted,  or  misrepresented;  nor  did  he 
escape  the  commission  of  faults.  These  are  subjects  that  must  claim  the 
particular  attention  of  his  biographer.  But  here  the  writer  must  be  indulged 
with  one  apology.  The  most  discouraging  circumstance  attending  his  inqui 
ries  on  the  subject  now  before  liis  readers,  has  been  the  utter  imposibility  of 
eliciting  from  any  one  who  was  intimate  with  Greene,  the  acknowledgement 
that  he  had  a  fault.  That  modern  biography  has  degenerated  from  the  dignity 
of  history  into  abject,  often  venal  eulogy,  is  a  palpable  truth.  We  look  with 
more  dread  on  the  possibility  of  this  work's  incurring  the  same  imputation, 
than  on  any  other  subject  of  criticism  or  censure.  But,  whether  General 
Greene's  faults  have  been  lost  in  the  high  reputation  to  which  he  attained,  or 
sunk  or  forgotten  in  the  ardour  of  affection  in  which  his  memory  is  cherished: 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  29 

by  all  who  knew  him ;  certain  it  is  that  they  have  been  sedulously,  nay,  im-    CHAP. 
portunately  inquired  after  by  the  writer,  but  almost  or  altogether  in  vain.     If^^J^, 
he  has  discovered  any,  they  are  very  few,  and  very  venial,  and  such  as  would 
scarcely  be  recognized  as  faults  in  any  other.     Much  more  easy,  and  certainly 
more  pleasant  was  the  task,  of  discovering  evidence  to  acquit  him  of  the  crimes 
which  had  been  unjustly  imputed  to  him  in  public  opinion.     Here,  inquiry 
has  not  been  restrained  by  that  indignation  which,  in  his  lifetime,  prevented 
him  from  giving  to  the  public  the  proofs  of  his  innocence. 

The  latter  part  of  1775  and  beginning  of  1776,  were  passed  before  Boston  in 
a  state  of  comparative  inaction.  The  British  were  about  8,000  strong,  after 
the  arrival  of  Howe,  Burgoyne,  and  Clinton ;  and  the  force  of  the  Americans 
at  no  time  exceeded  15,000.  The  latter  had  neither  discipline,  arms,  nor 
powder  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  the  former;  and  the  British  remembered 
too  well  the  stone  walls  that  lined  the  road  to  Concord,  and  the  entrenchments 
of  earth  and  staw  that  crowned  the  summit  of  Breeds'  or  Bunker's  Hill,  to 
attempt  any  enterprize  against  the  American  lines.  They  had  learned  to 
respect  the  deadly  aim  of  the  undisciplined  militiaman,  when  he  imagines 
himself  protected  from  his  adversary's  bayonet. 

The  post  assigned  Greene,  on  his  arrival  in  camp,  was  Prospect  Hill,  an 
important  point  in  the  centre  of  die  left  wing,  or  northern  extremity  of  the 
American  line.  And  at  or  near  the  same  point  he  continued  to  command, 
until  some  time  after  the  arrival  of  General  Washington. 

On  the  3d  of  July  1775,  the  commander  in  chief,  General  George  Wash 
ington,  arrived  and  assumed  the  command  of  the  American  army.  It  was 
the  fashion  of  the  day  to  welcome  him  by  a  formal  address,  and  Greene,  as 
the  military  chief  of  the  state  to  which  he  belonged,  very  cordiallv  complied 
with  the  received  custom.  This  was  the  era  of  his  introduction  to  an  ac 
quaintance  with  the  commander  in  chief;  and  from  this  day  to  the  close  of 
their  invaluable  lives,  no  two  men  ever  more  cordially  confided  in  each  other. 
Washington's  discerning  eye,  which  never  was  deceived  In  character,  how 
ever  policy  might  impose  silence;  soon  discovered  the  sound  judgement,  de 
voted  zeal,  and  military  cast  of  character  of  the  Rhode  Island  commander. 
The  head-quarters  were  at  Cambridge,  and  Greene's  post  at  a  little  distance 
to  the  left  of  that  place.  As  the  enemy  was  then  ported,  (being  chiefly  on  or 
near  Bunker's  Hill,)  this  position  was  among  the  most  important  on  the  line, 
and  its  proximity  to  the  residence  of  the  commander  in  chief,  placed  the 
conduct  of  Greene  particularly  under  the  view  of  his  commander;  whilst  the 
advanced  positions  assigned  to  the  Rhode  Islanders  on  the  extreme  left  at 
"Winter  Hill  and  LewelPs  farm,  suggests,  that  previous  to  the  general's  arrival, 


50  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  both  the  commander  and  his  men  had  acquired  the  confidence  of  their  bro- 
soldiers.  We  are  in  possession  of  a  communication  from  a  member  of 
General  Washington's  family,  whilst  he  lay  before  Boston,  which  contains  this 
encomium  on  the  Rhode  Islanders  and  their  commander :  "  His  command 
consisted  of  three  regiments,  then  the  best  disciplined  and  appointed  in  the 
whole  American  army."* 

The  congress  of  the  United  States,  having  resolved  to  place  the  troops  before 
Boston  on  the  continental  establishment,  soon  after  appointing  the  commander 
in  chief,  also  appointed  and  commissioned  four  major  generals  and  eight 
brigadiers.  Of  the  latter,  Greene  was  the  eighth  in  rank,  and  although  he 
held  the  rank  of  major  general  under  the  state  commission,  having  now  re 
solved  to  devote  himself  to  a  military  life,  he  accepted  of  an  inferior  appoint 
ment,  which  promised  more  enlarged  scope  of  action,  and  the  pleasure  of 
serving  under  the  immediate  command  of  Washington. 

In  the  new  arrangements  of  command  which  necessarily  took  place  after 
these  appointments,  that  of  the  two  brigades  posted  on  the  extreme  left  at 
Winter  Hill,  the  nearest  post  to  the  enemy,  was  delegated  to  Greene  and  Sul 
livan,  the  latter  being  also  one  of  the  newly  appointed  brigadiers. 

In  this  subordinate  command  Greene  found  not  enough  of  employment  to 
occupy  his  industrious  habits  and  ardent  mind.  Close  application  to  the 
study  of  his  profession,  filled  up  his  leisure  hours,  He  was  indefatigable  in 
training  his  brigade,  and  one  of  his  letters  boasts  of  the  proficiency  of  two  of 
the  regiments  of  his  Rhode  Islanders,  those  of  Vrarnum  and  Hitchcock,  both 
excellent  officers,  and  afterwards  distinguished  men  in  the  revolutionary  war. 

The  change  of  habits,  of  life,  and  increased  exposure  at  night,  brought 
upon  him  about  this  time,  a  severe  attack  of  the  jaundice.  To  a  man  who 
had  never  in  his  life  been  sick,  this  was  a  serious  occurrence;  in  a  letter  to  his 
brother  on  the  subject,  the  burthen  of  his  complaint  is  not,  his  suffering  under 
disease,  but  the  necessity  of  taking  medicine,  and  above  all,  die  fear  that  the 
army  would  march  into  Boston  without  him. 

This,  it  is  well  known,  had  been  resolved  on  in  a  council  of  war,  and  would 
certainly  have  been  attempted,  had  the  ice  in  Cnarlestown  Bay  ever  become 
hard  enough  to  bear  the  army.  For  several  days  the  hope  was  seriously 
entertained,  that  this  opportunity  would  have  been  afforded,  of  exhibiting 
their  spirit  and  zeal  in  the  hazardous  enterprize.  Fortunately  (probably)  for 
die  American  people,  the  event  on  which  it  depended  never  occurred.  And 


Gov.  Read's  Heads  of  Biography  of  Greene. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  31 

notwithstanding  the  opportunity  afforded  the  enemy  for  striking  an  effective   CHAP. 
blow,  while  Washington  dismissed  one  army  and  embodied  another  under  ^^-^^, 
their  very  guns,  the  enemy  lay  quietly  within  his  trenches  until  the  17th  of 
March  1776,  when  he  embarked  his  whole  force  for  New  York. 

It  is  a  fact,  that  on  the  day  of  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  service  of  the 
troops  composing  the  army  of  observation,  which  was  the  31st  of  December 
1775,  Washington  could  not  have  brought  5,000  men  into  action.  But  his 
vigilance  and  judicious  manoeuvres  concealed  from  the  enemy  the  dangers  of 
his  situation,  and  the  bustle  of  marching  and  countermarching  was  made  to 
present  the  appearance  of  an  accession,  instead  of  a  diminution  of  strength. 
The  avenues  of  information  were  carefully  guarded  by  the  much  dreaded  rifle, 
and  die  hearts  of  the  people  were  with  him,  or  he  could  not  have  concealed 
from  a  vigilant  foe,  a  transaction  unexampled  in  the  history  of  warfare. 

Whilst  Greene  lay  before  Boston,  his  mind  was  actively  engaged  in  promot 
ing  the  great  cause  in  wliich  he  had  embarked.  His  letters  to  his  friends 
breathe  a  fervour  for  the  general  good,  and  exhibit  a  degree  of  foresight  and 
intelligence  in  the  choice  of  means  to  attain  it,  that  make  a  selection  from 
them  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  memory  of  posterity.  Mr.  Samuel  Ward,  who 
had  been  governor  of  the  state,  was  then  a  delegate  in  the  continental  con 
gress,  and  the  general's  elder  brother,  Jacob  Greene,  an  active  and  influential 
whig,  was  chairman  of  the  committee  of  safety  in  Warwick.  These  were 
among  his  most  intimate  friends  and  correspondents.  At  this  time,  he  had 
not  many;  for  his  range  in  life  had  hitherto  been  very  limited.  A  few  ex 
tracts  from  his  first  letters,  written  some  time  after  making  his  debut  on  the 
revolutionary  theatre,  will  show  that  he  was  new  in  life,  while  they  furnish  a 
few  authentic  incidents  of  the  revolutionary  war. 

From  General  Greene  to  Jacob  Greene,  Esq. 

"RHODE  ISLAND  CAMP,  June  2cl,  1775. 

"  I  arrived  in  camp  on  Saturday  last,  and  found  it  in  great  commotion.  A 
few  days  longer  in  the  state  of  excitement  in  which  I  found  our  troops,  would 
have  proved  fatal  to  our  campaign.  The  want  of  government,  and  of  a  cer 
tainty  of  supplies,  had  thrown  every  thing  into  disorder.  Several  companies 
had  clubbed  their  muskets  in  order  to  march  home.  I  have  made  sev  eral 
regulations  for  introducing  order,  and  composing  their  murmurs;  but  it  is 
very  difficult  to  limit  people  who  have  had  so  much  latitude,  without  throwing 
them  into  disorder.  The  commissaries  had  been  beaten  off  at  my  arrival, 
and  were  about  returning  home  the  next  day.  I  believe  there  never  was  a 


32  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

» 

CHAP,  person  more  welcome  who  was  so  little  deserving,  as  myself.     I  wish  you 
v.^v^/  would  forward  Colonel  Varnum's  regiment ;  he  will  be  a  welcome  guest  in 
camp.     I  expect  much  from  his  and  his  troops'  example." 

From  the  same  to  the  same. 

"RHODE  ISLAND  CAMP,  June  28f/i,  1775. 

"  The  hurry  I  have  been  in,  and  the  numerous  employments  I  am  called 
to,  have  left  me  no  opportunity  to  write  to  you. 

"  I  regret  it  the  less,  as  I  am  confident  that  you  have  heard  every  day  from 
the  camp,  and  almost  every  particular  transaction  here,  with  many  that  never 
were  transacted  here  or  any  where  else. 

"  The  particulars  of  the  late  battle  (of  Bunker's  Hill)  have  been  differently 
represented.  Sometimes  the  enemy  have  lost  a  hundred,  sometimes  a  thou 
sand;  and  now  it  is  up  to  fifteen  hundred.  I  believe,  from  the  best  accounts  I 
can  collect,  that  they  suffered  a  loss  nearly  equal  to  the  last  accounts.  Many 
officers  fell  in  the  action.  The  Welsh  Fusileers,  the  finest  regiment  in  the 
English  establishment,  is  ruined ;  there  are  but  one  captain  and  eleven  privates 
left  in  the  regiment.  It  is  said,  that  if  some  regiments  on  our  side  had  done 
then:  duty  as  well  as  others  did,  the  regulars  must  have  suffered  a  total  defeat, 
and  would  never  have  got  possession  of  the  entrenchments.  Upon  the  whole, 
I  think  we  have  little  reason  to  complain.  There  were  but  about  fifty  killed 
on  our  side,  thirty  made  prisoners,  and  sixty  wounded.  I  wish  we  could  sell 
them  another  hill,  at  the  same  price. 

"  The  regulars  are  now  encamped  on  Bunker's  Hill,  and  our  people  on 
Prospect  and  Winter  Hills;  both  strongly  entrenched.  Our  people  are  in 
good  spirits,  but  regularity  and  discipline  are  much  wanted.  Our  o\vn  troops 
are  raw,  irregular,  and  undisciplined;  yet,  bad  as  they  are,  they  are  under 
much  better  government  than  any  troops  round  about  Boston.  There  are 
some  officers  in  each  regiment  who  exert  themselves  to  bring  the  camp  under 
regulations.  There  are  some  captains,  and  many  subaltern  officers,  who 
neglect  their  duty;  some  through  fear  of  offending  their  soldiers,  some  through 
laziness,  and  some  through  obstinacy.  This  makes  the  task  of  the  field  offi 
cers  very  laborious.  I  have  warned  them  of  their  negligence  many  times, 
and  am  determined  to  break  every  one  for  die  future,  who  shall  lay  himself 
open  to  it. 

"My  task  is  hard,  and  fatigue  great.  I  go  to  bed  late,  and  rise  early. 
The  number  of  applications  you  cannot  conceive  of/  without  being  present  to 
observe  the  round  of  business.  But  hard  as  it  is,  if  1  can  discharge  my  duty 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  33 

to  my  own  honour  and  my  country's  satisfaction,  I  shall  go  through  the  toil  CHAP 
with  cheerfulness.     My  own  officers  and  soldiers  are  generally  well  satisfied  ]^~^-^. 
nay,  I  have  not  heard  one  complaint. 

"  The  general  officers  of  the  neighbouring  camps  treat  me  with  the  greatest 
respect;  much  more  than  my  station  or  consequence  entitles  me  to.  Were  I 
to  estimate  my  value  by  the  attention  paid  to  my  opinions,  I  should  have  great 
reason  to  think  myself  some  considerable  personage.  But  fatal  experience 
teaches  me  every  day,  that  mankind  are  apt  to  pay  deference  to  station  and 
not  to  merit.  Therefore,  when  I  find  myself  surrounded  by  their  flattering 
attentions,  I  consider  them  as  due  to  my  office,  and  not  to  me.  I  shall  study 
to  deserve  well,  but  cannot  but  lament  the  great  defects  I  find  in  myself  to 
discharge  with  honour  and  justice  the  important  trust  committed  to  my  care. 
You  know  I  never  made  much  parade,  nor  was  ambitious  of  raising  people's 
expectation  higher  ihan  I  had  reason  to  hope  my  conduct  would  be  answer 
able  to.  The  world  in  general  are  too  good  judges  not  to  learn  the  true  merits 
of  men,  after  being  furnished  with  an  opportunity  to  inspect  them.  I  hope  God 
will  preserve  me  in  the  bounds  of  moderation,  and  enable  me  to  support  my 
self  with  proper  dignity,  neither  rash  nor  timorous,  pursuing  a  conduct  marked 
with  manly  firmness,  but  never  bordering  on  phrenzy." 

It  will  be  recollected,  that  in  the  year  1775  the  hopes  of  accommodation 
with  the  mother  country  were  not  yet  relinquished  by  many  of  the  leadiu" 
men  in  America.  Short-sighted  politicians  thought  Great  Britain  would  yield, 
as  hi  the  affair  of  the  stamp-act ;  and  did  not  perceive,  that  she  had  now 
rested  from  war,  and  digested  her  plan  for  reducing  the  colonies  to  a  state  of 
absolute  dependence  on  the  will  of  parliament.  The  free  charters  of  some  of 
the  states  were  viewed  with  particular  jealousy.  The  proprietary  governments 
had  generally  been  bought  out,  or  seized  as  forfeited,  and  royal  charters  sub 
stituted  for  them ;  and  it  was  no  doubt  an  interesting  object  to  bring  all  parts 
of  the  colony  to  the  same  state  of  subjection,  which  existed  where  the  kin* 
appointed  to  the  army,  the  chief  magistracy,  and  the  judiciary.  This,  which 
was  at  first  only  an  opinion  drawn  from  facts,  and  was  not  avowed  by  the 
British  government,  was  in  the  course  of  the  war  fully  dctected»* 


*  In  a  letter  taken  on  board  of  one  of  the  prizes,  and  published  to  the  world.  This  prize  was 
the  British  packet  for  North  America,  captured  by  the  French ;  and  the  letter  was  published  in 
the  Amsterdam  Gazette.  It  was  dated  Whitehall,  March  7th,  1781,  from  William  Kriox,  Esq. 
secretary  to  Lord  George  Germain,  to  James  Simpson,  Esq.  Tue  following  is  an  extract. 

5 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

The  eyes  of  many  were  wilfully  shut  against  conviction ;  and  the  confidence 
others  in  the  integrity  of  the  ministry,  rendered  them  willing  to  submit  to 
present  usurpation  without  fearing  that  it  would  be  extended  farther ;  whilst 
some  had  selfish  objects  to  govern  their  conduct.  The  better-informed  saw, 
that  the  late  encroachments  of  the  British  government  were  but  the  prelude  to  a 
gradual  advancement  to  absolute  despotism.  Of  this  number  was  Greene; 
nor  did  he  hesitate  about  the  alternative,  or  desist  from  pressing  upon  others 
the  necessity  of  a  declaration  of  bidependence.  And  with  the  necessity  of 
that  measure  his  ready  mind  soon  discovered  the  means  indispensable  to 
achieving  it. 

It  will  be  recollected,  that  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  which  shed  such  a 
ray  of  glory  round  the  Massachusetts'  militia,  produced  a  delusion  in  the 
public  mind,  which  had  nearly  proved  fatal  to  the  American  cause — a  blind 
implicit  reliance  on  the  efficiency  of  undisciplined  troops.  In  the  midst  of  the 
men  who  had  acquired  such  glory,  in  the  sight  of  the  spot  that  had  been  hal 
lowed  by  their  devotion,  in  the  very  height  of  exultation  and  eulogy,  his  mind 
was  not  to  be  borne  away  by  the  popular  impulse.  It  will  be  found,  that  he 
even  anticipated  the  warning  voice  of  Washington  against  the  danger  and 
impolicy  of  the  prevailing  sentiment,  and  pressed  upon  his  correspondents  the 
necessity  of  making  the  war  in  every  sense  a  common  undertaking, — to 
enlist  troops  for  the  war,  and  enlist  them  at  once  as  an  act  of  die  congress, 
without  delegating  the  work  to  the  states  by  assigning  to  each  a  specified 
quota.  Unfortunately,  these  opinions  were  not  the  fashion  of  the  day.  De- 
claimers  had  excited  an  alarm  at  the  idea  of  a  standing  army,  and  short 
enlistments,  and  contingents  of  militia,  brought  the  country  to  the  brink  of 
ruin.  Fortunately,  heaven  shielded  us  from  the  effects  of  our  own  folly,  in 
sending  us  men  to  command  whose  genius  was  prolific  in  resource,  and  whose 
bravery  and  patriotism  were  proof  against  mortification  and  defeat:  and  public 
-virtue  enough  to  bear  up  against  every  misfortune. 


"  When  I  consider  from  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  rebellious  forces,  and  our  great  supe 
riority,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  revolted  provinces  will  probably  solicit  for  a  negotiation,  and 
perhaps  such  a  request  may  come  from  congress  itself,  I  wish  you  to  be  present  j  tor,  knowing 
your  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  dispositions  of  the  inhabitants  to  republican  principles,  and 
their  aversion  to  monarchy,  it  may  be  in  your  power  to  prevent  making  any  concessions  that 
may  tend  to  keep  up  those  principles  among  the  inhabitants,  and  to  see  that  no  alteration  be 
made  in  their  constitutions,  as  it  is  intended  to  establish  among  them  distinctions  of  rank,  and 
new  model  their  government  by  that  of  Great  Britain."— An.  Reg.  1781,  Appendix  to  Chronicle 
254. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  35 

The  subjoined  letters  will  be  given  to  the  reader  without  apology,  as  they  CHAP. 
serve  to  show  the  style  of  writing,  turn  of  thought,  and  habit  of  feeling  of  the^^^J-^, 
individual  whose  character  we  are  delineating.  We  shall  frequently  have  occa 
sion  to  copy  similar  letters  into  these  pages,  wherever  they  serve  to  present 
some  trait  of  character,  or  furnish  an  original  view  of  some  event  of  the  revolu 
tionary  war.  This  is  a  deviation  from  the  design  with  which  this  undertaking 
was  entered  upon,  but  it  has  been  adopted  upon  mature  reflection.  The  two 
little  volumes  of  official  letters  written  by  General  Washington,  are  destined  to 
survive  the  many  volumes  that  have  been  written  on  the  American  war,  and 
to  present  to  the  world  the  best  eulogy  on  his  character,  as  well  as  the  most 
authentic  history  of  his  times. 


General  Greene  to  Governor  Wai*d. 

"  CAMP  ON  PROSPECT  HILL,  June  bth,  1775. 
14  DEAR  SIR, 

"  Your  kind  favour  of  the  23d  last  is  now  before  me.  I  am  extremely 
happy  to  find  your  views  so  affectionately  extended  to  the  combined  interests 
of  the  united  colonies.  Your  apprehensions  that  George  III.  is  determined,  at 
all  hazards  to  carry  his  plan  of  despotism  into  execution,  is  fully  confirmed  by 
his  late  gracious  speech  to  both  houses  of  parliament.  In  that,  you  will  find, 
he  breathes  revenge,  and  threatens  us  with  destruction.  Indeed,  it  is  no  more 
than  common  sense  must  have  foreseen  long  since,  had  we  not  been  blinded 
by  a  too-fond  attachment  to  the  parent  state.  WTe  have  consulted  our"  wishes, 
rather  than  our  reason,  in  indulging  the  idea  of  accommodation.  Heaven  has 
decreed  that  tottering  empire  to  irretrievable  ruin,  and,  thanks  to  God,  since 
providence  has  so  determined  it,  America  must  raise  an  empire  of  permanent 
duration,  supported  upon  the  grand  pillars  of  truth,  freedom,  and  religion, 
based  upon  justice,  and  defended  by  her  own  patriotic  sons. 

"  No  doubt  a  large  army  must  be  raised  in  addition  to  the  forces  upon  the 
present  establishment.  You  are  acquainted  with  my  sentiments  upon  that 
head  already.  How  they  must  be  divided,  and  where  stationed,  is  a  matter 
at  present  problematical.  However,  one  thing  is  certain,  the  grand  body 
must  be  superior  in  number  to  any  force  the  enemy  can  send.  All  the  forces 
in  America  should  be  under  one  commander,  raised  and  appointed  by  the  same 
authority,  subjected  to  the  same  regulations,  and  ready  to  be  detached  ivhcrever 


6  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  occasion  may  require.  Your  observation  with  regard  to  the  Canadians  has 
r^s^, often  struck  me;  that  their  attachment  to  the  one  party  or  the  other  will 
greatly  depend  upon  the  superiority  of  force.  To  prevent  which  in  some 
measure,  and  fix  them  to  the  common  interest,  let  us  raise  one  or  more  regi 
ments  of  Canadians  to  serve  in  New  England,  and  send  an  equal  number 
into  Canada  from  the  states,  in  addition  to  what  you  have  proposed.  With 
regard  to  the  scanty  measure  dealt  out  to  the  army  upon  the  new  establish 
ment,  we  are  not  altogether  different  in  sentiment.  Vet  I  am  convinced  the 
regiments  will  fill  to  their  full  complement.  I  believe  they  are  more,  upon  an 
average,  than  half  full  already.  Undoubtedly  the  detaining  of  arms,  being 
private  property,  is  repugnant  to  many  principles  of  civil  and  natural  law,  and 
hath  disgusted  many.*  But  the  great  law  of  necessity  must  justify  the  expe 
dient,  till  we  can  be  otherwise  furnished.  The  pay  of  the  soldiers  is  certainly 
generous,  and  the  officers  likewise,  except  the  field  officers,  whose  pay  is  much 
below  that  of  any  others,  considering  their  rank  and  experience,  and  it  will 
operate  to  excite  an  opinion  derogatory  to  their  merit. 

"  My  dear  sir,  I  am  now  to  open  my  mind  a  little  more  freely.  It  hath 
been  said  that  Canada,  in  the  late  war,  was  conquered  in  Germany.  Who 
knows  but  that  Britain  may  be,  in  the  present  controversy !  I  take  it  for 
granted,  that  France  and  Spain  have  made  overtures  to  the  congress.  Let  us 
embrace  them  as  brothers.  We  want  not  their  land  force  in  America;  their 
navy  we  do.  Their  commerce  will  be  mutually  beneficial;  they  will  doubt 
less  pay  the  expense  of  their  fleet,  as  it  will  be  employed  in  protecting  their 
own  trade.  Their  military  stores  we  want  amazingly.  Those  will  be  articles 
of  commerce.  The  Elector  of  Hanover  has  ordered  his  German  troops  to 
relieve  the  garrisons  of  Gibraltar  and  Port  Mahon.  France  will  of  conse 
quence  attack  and  subdue  Hanover  widi  little  trouble.  This  will  bring  on  a 
very  severe  war  in  Germany,  and  turn  Great  Britain's  attention  that  way. 
This  may  prevent  immense  expense,  and  innumerable  calamities  in  America. 

"  Permit  me,  then,  to  recommend  from  the  sincerity  of  my  heart,  ready  at  all 
times  to  Heed  in  my  country's  cause,  a  declaration  of  independence;  and  call 
upon  the  world,  and  die  great  God  who  governs  it,  to  witness  die  necessity, 
propriety,  and  rectitude  diereof. 


*  The  arms  of  the  militia  were  detained  by  General  Washington  when  they  had  served  out 
their  tour  of  duty  before  Boston  and  were  replaced  by  others.  Most  of  the  latter  came  in  un 
armed,  and  there  were  na  other  means  of  supplying  the  want. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  37 

"  My  worthy  friend,  the  interests  of  mankind  hang  upon  that  truly  worthy  CHAP. 
body  of  which  you  are  a  member.     You  stand  the  representative,  not  of  v-^sr>fc>/ 
America  only,  but  of  the  whole  world ;  the  friends  of  liberty,  and  the  sup 
porters  of  the  rights  of  human  nature. 

"  How  will  posterity,  millions  yet  unborn,  bless  the  memory  of  those  brave 
patriots  who  are  now  hastening  the  consummation  of  freedom,  truth,  and 
religion!  But  want  of  decision  renders  wisdom  in  council  insignificant,  as 
Want  of  power  hath  prevented  us  here  from  destroying  the  mercenary  troops 
now  in  Boston.  Frugality,  a  most  amiable  domestic  virtue,  becomes  a  vice 
of  the  most  enormous  kind,  when  opposed  to  the  common  good.  The  tyrant 
by  his  last  speech  has  convinced  us,  that  to  be  free  or  not,  depends  upon  our 
selves.  Nothing,  therefore,  but  the  most  vigorous  exertions  on  our  part,  can 
shelter  us  from  the  evils  intended  us.  How  can  we,  then,  startle  at  the  idea 
of  expense,  when  our  whole  property,  our  dearest  connexions,  our  liberty,  nay, 
fife  itself  is  at  stake:  let  us,  therefore,  act  like  men  inspired  with  a  resolution 
that  nothing  but  the  frowns  of  heaven  shall  conquer  us.  It  is  no  time  for 
deliberation ;  the  hour  is  swiftly  rolling  on  when  the  plains  of  America  will 
be  deluged  with  human  blood.  Resolves,  declarations,  and  all  the  parade  of 
Reroism  in  words,  will  not  obtain  a  victory.  Arms  and  ammunition  are  as 
accessary  as  men,  and  must  be  had  at  the  expense  of  every  thing  short  of 
Britain's  claims. 

"An  army  unequipped,  will  ever  feel  the  want  of  spirit  and  courage;  but 
properly  furnished,  fighting  in  the  best  of  causes,  will  bid  defiance  to  the  united 
force  of  men  and  devils.  "\Vhen,  a  finishing  period  will  be  put  to  the  present 
dispute,  God  only  knows.  We  have  just  experienced  the  inconveniences  of 
disbanding  an  army  within  cannon-shot  of  the  enemy,  and  forming  a  new  one 
in  its  stead.  An  instance  never  before  known.  Had  the  enemy  been  fully 
acquainted  with  our  situation,  I  cannot  pretend  to  say  what  might  have  been 
the  consequence.  A  large  body  of  troops  will  probably  be  wanted  for  a  con 
siderable  time.  It  will  be  infinitely  safer,  and  not  more  expensive  in  the  end, 
for  the  continent  to  give  a  large  bounty  to  any  number  of  troops  in  addition  to  what 
may  be  ordered  on  the  present  establishment,  that  will  engage  during  the  wart 
than  to  enlist  them  from  year  to  year  without  a  bounty.  And  should  the  present 
regiments  be  inclined  to  engage  for  the  same  term,  let  them  receive  the  same 
encouragement.  There  is  not  the  least  prospect  of  our  being  able  to  disband 
and  form  a  new  army  again,  without  the  enemy's  availing  himself  of  the 
advantage. 

"  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  show  your  Ia«t  letter  to  General  Lee,  whose 
knowledge  of  Europe,  and  American  genius  and  learning,  enable  aim  to  give 


38  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  you  the  advice  you  want.     He  has  written  you  fully  on  the  subject;  it  would 
v^-v^/be  mere  arrogance  in  me  to  say  any  thing  upon  the  subject,  after  he  has  taken 
up  the  pen. 

"I  this  day  manned  the  lines  upon  this  hill,  and  feel  a  degree  of  pleasure 
that  I  have  not  felt  for  several  days.  Our  situation  has  been  critical.  We 
have  no  part  of  the  militia  here,  and  the  night  after  the  old  troops  went  away, 
I  could  not  have  mustered  seven  hundred  men,  notwithstanding  the  returns  of 
the  new  enlisted  troops  amounted  to  nineteen  hundred  and  upwards.  I  am 
now  strong  enough  to  defend  myself  against  all  the  force  in  Boston.  God 
bless  you  and  preserve  you. 

«  Adieu,  &c." 

From  the  same  to  the  same. 

"PROSPECT  HILL,  October  IQth,  1775. 

"  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  that  the  troops  from  Rhode  Island 
stand  as  high  in  public  esteem  as  the  troops  of  the  neighbouring  colonies.  I 
have  spared  no  pains,  night  or  day,  to  teach  them  their  duty.  How  far  I  have 
succeeded,  I  leave  to  his  excellency  to  say.  Colonel  Varnum  and  Colonel 

Hitchcock  are  excellent  disciplinarians. knows  nothing  about  it, 

and  never  will. 

"  With  regard  to  paying  the  troops  part  of  their  wages,  and  the  committee 
part,  it  will  be  productive  of  a  multitude  of  inconveniences.  The  colonels 
can  retain  part  of  their  wages  for  their  families  at  home;  the  people  may  give 
orders  to  those  who  supply  their  families  to  receive  it.  This  will  give  less 
dissatisfaction,  and  answer  every  salutary  purpose.  A  man  from  each  town 
or  county  may  undertake  to  supply  the  families  of  those  that  are  engaged  in 
the  army.  The  colonels  are  the  best  judges  of  the  prudence  and  good  economy 
of  their  soldiers;  those  who  behave  well,  and  make  a  prudent  use  of  their 
money,  want  no  agent;  for  they  will  receive  monthly  payments,  and  such  parts 
as  they  can  spare  for  the  support  of  their  families,  can  easily  be  conveyed 
home.  As  the  troops  are  considered  continental  and  not  colonial,  there  must 
be  some  systematical  plan  for  the  payment,  without  any  reference  to  any 
particular  colonies;  otherwise,  they  will  be  partly  continental,  and  partly 
colonial.  His  excellency  has  a  great  desire  to  banish  every  idea  of  local 
attachments.  It  is  next  to  impossible  to  unhinge  the  prejudices  that  people 
have  for  places  and  things  which  they  have  long  been  connected  with.  But 
the  fewer  of  those  local  attachments  which  discover  themselves  in  our  plan 
for  establishing  the  army,  the  more  satisfactory  it  must  be  to  the  southern 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  S9 

people.     For  my  part,  I  feel  the  cause,  and  not  the  place.     I  would  as  soon  go   CHAP. 
to  Virginia,  as  stay  here.     I  can  assure  the  gentlemen  to  die  southward,  that  ^^J~^ 

there  could  not  be  any  thing  more  abhorrent  to  ,  than  an  union  of 

these  colonies  for  the  purpose  of  conquering  those  of  the  south. 

"  The  pay  and  provision  of  the  troops  cannot  be  lowered  at  present ;  they 
do  not  feel  themselves  under  a  necessity  to  enter  the  service  for  the  support  of 
themselves  and  families,  and,  therefore,  would  refuse  to  enlist  again.  This 
might  produce  a  recess  at  the  termination  of  their  present  enlistment,  which 
would  be  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  America.  At  some  future  period,  if  the 
people  are  obliged  to  resort  to  the  army  for  employment,  such  a  measure  might 
be  prudent  and  practical,  but  by  no  means  at  present.  The  committee  from  the 
congress  arrived  last  evening,  and  I  had  the  honour  to  be  introduced  to  that 
very  great  man,  Dr.  Franklin,  whom  I  viewed  with  sileni  admiration  during 
the  whole  evening.  '  Attention  watched  his  lips,  and  conviction  closed  his 
periods.7  Colonel  Harris  is  a  veiy  facetious,  good  humoured,  sensible,  spirited 
gentleman ;  he  appears  to  be  calculated  for  military  employment.  Mr.  Lynch 
was  much  fatigued  and  said  but  little,  but  appeared  sensible  in  his  inquiries 
and  observations.  You  may  depend  upon  our  paying  the  gentlemen  every 
mark  of  respect  and  attention  during  their  stay. 

"  I  had  the  pleasure  to  hear  from  your  son  Samuel,  the  26th  of  September.* 
He  was  at  Fort  Weston,  just  going  to  set  off  on  their  journey.  All  in  health 
and  good  spirits.  I  had  the  same  apprehensions  with  regard  to  Samuel's 
health  and  strength  to  endure  the  fatigues  of  such  a  campaign,  as  you  had.  I 
advised  him  to  decline  it;  but  the  heat  of  youth,  and  the  thirst  of  glory, 
surmounted  every  obstacle,  and  rendered  reasoning  vain  and  persuasion  fruit 
less.  Colonel  Christopher  Greene  is  gone  with  him.  His  going  made  me 
the  more  readily  consent  to  your  son's  going.  I  gave  the  colonel  a  particular 
charge  to  lend  him  a  helping  hand  in  every  case  of  difficulty,  and  he  promised 
that  his  aid  should  never  be  wanting.  By  several  letters  from  Quebec,  tilings 
wear  a  promising  appearance  there.  If  the  expedition  succeeds,  and  we  get 
possession  of  Canada,  we  shall  effectually  shut  the  back  door  against  them. 
And  I  make  no  doubt  of  keeping  them  from  entering  at  the  front.  You  may 
depend  on  my  influence  to  obtain  Charles  a  commission  in  the  new  establish 
ment." 


*  These  officers  had  volunteered  under  Arnold.  A  considerable  proportion  of  these  volun 
teers  were  from  the  Rhode  Island  troops.  Colonel  C.  Greene  is  best  known  as  the  hero  of  Red 
Bank. 


40  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP. 

v^^v/  From  the  same  to  the  same. 

"  PROSPECT  HILL,  October  23rf,  1775. 

"  An  express  arrived  from  Casco  Bay  last  evening,  bringing  an  account 
that  the  enemy  had  been  firing  a  day  or  two  upon  Falmouth.  What  has 
been  the  consequence  we  have  not  heard.  The  enemy  had  orders  to  burn 
Falmouth  and  Portsmouth,  unless  the  inhabitants  would  deliver  up  their  arms, 
and  give  hostages  for  their  future  good  behaviour.  Truly,  *  their  tender 
mercies  are  cruelties.'  Will  not  this  brutal  conduct  rouse  a  spirit  of  indigna 
tion  throughout  America?  Such  a  shocking  scene  as  was  exhibited  at  Bristol, 
you  cannot  conceive  of.  The  people  of  Newport  are  all  moving  into  the 
Country.  The  night  after  Wallace  returned  from  Bristol*  the  confusion  in 
Newport  was  nearly  equal  to  what  it  was  there.  Captain  Wallace  has  made 
the  inhabitants  die  following  proposition :  *  If  they  will  supply  his  vessels  with 
fresh  provisions,  beer,  &c.  and  remove  the  troops  from  the  island,  he  will 
spare  the  town;  but,  if  they  do  not  comply  with  these  conditions,  he  has  posi 
tive  orders  to  lay  it  in  ashes,  which  he  is  determined  to  execute.'  What  will 
be  the  event,  God  only  knows.  There  is  a  committee  from  Newport  down 
here  to  see  Governor  Cook,  to  get  an  order  for  the  removal  of  the  troops,  and 
liberty  to  furnish  the  ships  with  fresh  provisions.  The  matter  was  laid  before 
the  continental  committee,  who  advised  furnishing  the  ships  with  fresh  provi 
sions,  but  not  to  remove  the  troops  off  the  island,  which,  I  suppose,  will  take 
place.  But  there  appears  a  strange  hobble  in  our  gait.  Here,  we  are  at 
loggerheads;  in  other  places,  only  sparring,  and  others  again,  are  in  perfect 
tranquillity.  Here,  we  are  cutting  them  off  from  fresh  provisions,  and  remov 
ing  the  stock  from  tiic  island,  which  amounts  to  a  perfect  depopulation; 
while  at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  many  other  parts  of  America,  their 
ships  are  supplied  with  every  thing  they  stand  in  need  of,  and  live  in  the  midst 
of  peace  and  plenty.  If  we  are  to  be  considered  as  one  people,  and  they  as 
the  common  enemy,  upon  what  principles  are  they  so  differently  treated  in 
different  governments?  Oh,  could  the  congress  behold  the  distresses  and 
wretched  condition  of  the  poor  inhabitants,  driven  from  the  seaport  towns,  it 
must,  it  would  kindle  a  blaze  of  indignation  against  the  commissioned  pirates 
and  licensed  robbers.  They  would  not  be  permitted  to  find  rest  or  an  abiding 
place  in  America.  The  fate  of  kingdoms  depends  upon  the  just  improvement 


*  Bristol  was  sacked  by  Wallace. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE*.  41 

of  critical  minutes.     Suffer  not  the  noble  ardour  to  slacken  for. want  of  action,   CHAP. 
nor  smother  the  generous  flame  for  want  of  fuel.     The  temper  and  feeling  of  V-^N^. 
men  can  be  WTOught  up  to  a  certain  pitch,  and  then,  Like  all  transitory  things, 
they  sicken  and  subside.     This  is  the  time  for  a  wise  legislator  to  avail  himself 
of  the  advantage  which  the  favourable  disposition  of  the  people  gives  him  to 
execute,  whatever  sound  policy  dictates.     It  is  not  in  the  province  of  mortals 
to  reduce  human  events  in  politics  to  a  certainty.     It  is  our  duty  to  provide 
the  means  to  obtain  our  ends,  and  leave  the  event  to  Him  who  is  the  allwise 
Governor  and  Disposer  of  the  universe. 

"  The  state  of  Rhode  Island  from  its  situation  must  suffer  amazingly ;  the 
stock  which  lies  exposed  to  the  enemy's  ravages  would  be  a  plentiful  supply 
for  their  troops  in  Boston.  An  object  so  considerable  will  not  escape  their 
attention.  Without  doubt  they  will  attempt  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advan 
tage.  The  situation  of  the  island  affords  the  means,  and  the  attempt  must  be 
successful,  unless  some  provision  be  made  to  frustrate  their  measures.  As  their 
defeat  is  a  general  benefit,  it  is  but  just  that  it  should  come  within  the  line  of 
a  general  charge  against  the  continent.  Fresh  provisions  will  be  of  infinite 
service  to  the  troops  in  Boston.  If  they  do  not  provide  some  very  fine  anti 
scorbutics,  they  must  suffer  amazingly  by  the  scurvy.  By  two  captains  of 
vessels  who  came  out  of  Boston  the  day  before  yesterday,  we  learn  that  it  is 
extremely  sickly ;  eight  or  ten  are  buried  every  day.  Cold  weather  coming  on 
with  the  scurvy  locked  up  in  their  blood,  from  eating  salt  provisions,  must 
produce  a  prodigious  mortality.  Nothing  can  heighten  their  distress  so  much 
as  cutting  them  off  from  fresh  provisions.  Therefore,  I  think  it  a  subject 
worthy  public  attention,  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  Rhode  Island  to  secure  the 
stock  on  the  island.  It  must  be  grievous  to  the  inhabitants  to  be  subject  to 
such  an  expense  themselves,  and  unjust,  seeing  the  whole  continent  are  to  be 
benefited  by  its  consequences. 

"  The  committee  has  been  closely  engaged  in  forming  a  plan  for  regulating 
the  army.  I  hope  when  the  army  is  re-enlisted,  and  the  best  of  the  olliccrs 
selected,  the  troops  will  be  under  better  regulation.  The  number  agreed  on 
may  be  larger  than  may  appear  necessary.  But  when  you  consider  how  raw 
and  undisciplined  the  troops  are  in  general,  and  what  warlike  preparations  are 
going  on  in  England,  and  how  necessary  it  is  to  have  a  good  army  in  the 
spring,  and  the  favourable  prospect  we  shall  have  of  making  ourselves  masters 
of  Boston  this  winter,  I  doubt  not  you  will  cheerfully  concur  in  the  establish 
ment.  The  general  officers  agreed  upon  20,000.  What  number  the  com 
mittee  has  determined  upon  I  have  not  heard,  but  make  no  doubt  they  will 
approve  of  the  number  agreed  to  by  the  generals. 

6 


42  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.       "  I  wish  we  had  a  large  stock  of  powder,  that  we  might  annoy  the  enemy 

S^N^^/  wherever  they  made  their  appearance.     We  could  easily,  in  my  opinion,  drive 

them  out  of  Boston  if  we  had  the  means,  but  for  want  thereof  we  are  obliged 

O 

to  remain  idle  spectators;  for  we  cannot  get  at  tliem,  and  they  are  determined 
not  to  come  to  us.  However,  I  hope  ere  long  fortune  will  favour  us  agreeably 
to  our  wishes. 

"I  hinted  in  my  last  that  people  began  heartily  to  wish  a  declaration  of 
independence.  I  would  make  it  treason  against  the  states  to  make  any  further 
remittances  to  Great  Britain,  and  stop  all  supplies  to  their  shipping.  We  had 
as  well  begin  in  earnest  at  first  as  at  last,  for  we  have  no  alternative  but  to 
fight  it  out  or  be  slaves.  We  should  open  our  ports  to  all  who  have  a  mind 
to  come  and  trade  with  us.  But  it  will  be  necessary  to  keep  a  check  upon 
commerce,  lest  it  take  the  lead  of  military  pursuits.  The  merchants  are 
generally  a  body  of  people  whose  god  is  gain,  and  their  whole  plan  of  policy 
is  to  bring  public  measures  to  square  with  their  private  interest. 

"  The  French  will  never  agree  to  furnish  us  with  powder  as  long  as  there 
is  the  least  probability  of  an  accommodation  between  us  and  Great  Britain; 
the  alternative  is  a  separation  from  Great  Britain,  or  subjugation  to  her.  In  the 
latter  case,  Great  Britain  as  a  nation  will  receive  little  or  no  advantage  from 
the  colonies,  for  slavery  is  ever  unfriendly  to  trade,  and  trade  is  the  strength 
and  sinews  of  Great  Britain.  Therefore,  France,  as  a  real  enemy  to  Great 
Britain,  acts  upon  a  true  plan  of  policy  in  refusing  to  intermeddle,  until  she  is 
satisfied  that  there  is  no  hope  of  accommodation.  The"n  she  can  interpose 
with  propriety  to  lend  us  a  helping  hand.  Should  France  undertake  to  fur 
nish  us  with  powder  and  other  articles,  and  the  breach  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  colonies  be  afterwards  made  up,  she  would  incur  the  hostility  of  her 
*  rival,  without  reaping  any  solid  advantage." 


From  the  same  to  the  same. 
• 

"  PROSPECT  HILL,  December  10//i,  1775. 

a  In  my  last  I  mentioned  to  you,  that  the  troops  enlisted  very  slowly  in 
general.  I  was  in  hopes  then  that  ours  would  not  have  deserted  die  cause  of 
their  country.  But  they  seem  to  be  so  sick  of  this  way  of  life,  and  so  home 
sick,  that  I  fear  the  greater  part,  and  the  best  of  the  troops  from  our  colony 
will  go  home.  The  Connecticut  troops  are  going  home  in  shoals  this  day. 
Five  thousand  of  the  militia,  three  from  this  province,  and  two  from  Hamp 
shire,  are  called  in  to  take  their  place.  There  is  a  great  defection  among  their 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  43 

(the  Connecticut)  troops,  but  from  the  spirit  and  resolution  of  the  people  of  rw\p. 
that  province  I  make  no  doubt  they  will  furnish  their  proportion  without  delay.  ^~^^' 
New  Hampshire  behaves  nobly ;  their  troops  engage  cheerfully.     The  regi 
ment  raised  in  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  has  hurt  our  recruiting  amazingly ; 
they  are  fond  of  serving  in  the  army  at  home,  and  each  feels  a  desire  to  pro 
tect  his  OWTI  family.  •   „ 

"  I  harangued  the  troops  yesterday ;  I  hope  it  had  some  effect ;  they  appear 
of  a  better  disposition  to-day;  some  have  enlisted,  and  others  discover  a 
complying  temper.  I  leave  nothing  undone  or  unsaid  that  will  promote  the 
recruiting  service.  But  I  fear  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  is  upon  the  decline. 
There  have  been,  and  now  are  some  unhappy  disputes  subsisting  between  the 
town  and  country  interest,  and  some  wretches,  for  die  sake  of  a  present  popu 
larity,  are  endeavouring  to  widen  the  breach,  to  build  up  their  own  conse 
quence  to  the  prejudice  and  ruin  of  the  public  interest.  God  grant  that  they 
may  meet  with  the  disgrace  they  deserve! 

"  This  province  begins  to  exert  itself;  the  general  court  has  undertaken  to 
provide  for  the  army,  wood,  &LC.  Their  troops  begin  now  to  enlist  very  fast. 
They  are  zealous  in  the  country  to  engage  in  the  service. 

"  I  sent  home  some  recruiting  officers,  but  they  got  scarcely  a  man,  and 
report  that  there  are  none  to  be  had  there.  No  public  spirit  prevails ;  I  wish 
you  and  your  colleague  were  at  home  a  few  days,  to  spirit  up  the  people. 
Newport  I  believe,  from  the  best  intelligence  I  can  get,  is  determined  to  ob 
serve  a  strict  neutrality  this  winter,  and  hi  die  spring  join  the  strongest  party. 
1  feel  for  the  honour  of  the  colony,  which  I  think  in  a  fail-  way,  from  the 
conduct  of  the  people  at  home  and  the  troops  abroad,  to  receive  a  wound. 
It  mortifies  me  to  death  that  our  colony  and  troops  should  be  a  whit  behind 
the  neighbouring  governments  in  private  virtue  or  public  spirit. 

"  I  have  been  strengthening  this  hill,  in  order,  that  if  the  soldiery  should  not 
engage  as  cheerfully  as  we  expected,  I  might  be  able  to  defend  it  with  a  less 
number." 


From  the  same  to  the  same. 

"  PROSPECT  HILL,  December  18^,  1775. 

"  The  army  is  filling  up  slowly:  I  think  the  prospect  is  better  than  it  has 
been.  Recruits  come  in  out  of  the  country  plentifully,  and  the  soldiers  in  the 
army  begin  to  show  a  better  disposition,  and  to  recruit  cheerfully. 


44  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.       «  Your  observation  is  exceedingly  just     This  is  no  time  for  disgusting  the 

^^^^  soldiery  when  their  aid   is  so  essential  to  the  preservation  of  the  rights  of 

human  nature,  and  the  liberties  of  America.     His  excellency  is  a  great  and 

good  man,  I  feel  the  highest  degree  of  respect  for  him.     I  wish  him  immortal 

«  honour.     I  think  myself  happy  in  an  opportunity  to  serve  under  so  good  a 

general.     My  happiness  will  be  still  greater,  if  fortune  gives  me  an  opportunity 
in.  some  signal  instance  to  contribute  to  his  glory  and  my  country's  good. 

, "  But  his  excellency,  as  you  observe,  has  not  had  time  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  the  genius  of  this  people ;  they  are  naturally  as  brave  and 
spirited  as  the  peasantry  of  any  other  country,  but  you  cannot  expect  veterans 
of  a  raw  militia  from  only  a  few  months'  service.  The  common  people  are 
exceedingly  avaricious;  the  genius  of  the  people  is  commercial  from  their  long 
intercourse  with  trade.  The  sentiment  of  honour,  the  true  characteristic  of  a 
soldier,  has  not  yet  got  the  better  of  interest.  His  excellency  has  been  taught 
to  believe  the  people  here,  a  superior  race  of  mortals ;  and  finding  them  of  the 
same  temper  and  dispositions,  passions  and  prejudices,  virtues  and  vices  of  the 
common  people  of  other  governments,  they  sink  in  his  esteem.  The  country 
round  here,  set  no  bounds  to  their  demands  for  hay,  wood,  and  teaming.  It 
has  given  his  excellency  a  great  deal  of  uneasiness  that  they  should  take  this 
opportunity  to  extort  from  the  necessities  of  the  army  such  enormous  prices* 
The  general  has  often  expressed  to  me  his  uneasiness  about  the  expenses;  they 
so  far  exceed  the  expectations  of  congress.  He  is  afraid  they  will  sink  under 
the  weight  of  such  charges.  Economy  is  undoubtedly  essential  in  this  dispute ; 
there  should  be  no  wanton  waste  of  public  property ;  but  if  you  starve  the 
cause,  you  protract  the  dispute.  If  the  congress  wish  to  put  the  finishing 
stroke  to  this  war,  they  must  exert  their  whole  force  at  once, — give  every 
measure  an  air  of  decision.  I  pray  God  we  may  not  lose  the  critical  moment. 
Human  affairs  are  ever  like  the  tide,  constantly  on  the  ebb  and  flow.  Our 
preparations  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  ought  to  be  so  great,  as  to  leave 
no  room  to  doubt  our  intentions  to  support  the  cause  and  obtain  our  conditions. 
This  will  draw  in  the  weak  and  wavering,  and  give  such  a  turn  to  the  minds 
of  people,  that  small  shocks  shall  not  be  seriously  felt  in  the  general  plan  of 
operations.  Your  proclamation  in  answer  to  that  of  the  king's  of  August  last, 
is  glorious,  is  noble;  was  it  unanimous,  or  only  the  voice  of  a  small  majority? 
The  papers  announce  to  you  the  much  greater  part  of  the  military  operations 
here. 

"  From  the  best  accounts  we  can  get  out  of  Boston,  they  are  prodigiously 
distressed.  It  begins  to  be  very  sickly;  the  scurvy  discovers  itself,  the  small 
pox  prevails,  and  general  Howe  is  inoculating  all  the  soldiery  who  have  never 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  45 

had  it.     I  think  they  cannot  hold  out  the  winter  through,  though  we  were  to   CHAP. 
kave  them  unmolested,  which  God  grant  we  may  not  v^~v>^ 

"  It  is  reported  that  Quebec  is  taken.  General  Montgomery  and  Colonel 
Arnold  will  acquire  immortal  honour.  Oh,  that  we  had  plenty  of  powder;  I 
should  then  hope  to  see  something  done  here  for  the  honour  of  America! 

"  Our  barracks  are  almost  completed.  Blankets  and  clothing  will  be  very 
much  wanted,  notwithstanding  your  supply  from  congress.  The  Connecticut 
troops  are  gone  home ;  the  militia  from  this  province  and  New  Hampshire 
are  come  in  to  take  their  places.  Upon  this  occasion,  they  have  discovered  a 
zeal  that  does  them  the  highest  honour.  New  Hampshire  behaves  nobly." 

From  the  same  to  the  same. 

• 
"  PROSPECT  HILL,  December  31  st,  1775. 

"  You  entreat  the  general  officers  to  recommend  to  the  congress  the  giving 
of  a  bounty.  But  his  excellency  General  Washington  has  often  assured  us, 
that  the  congress  would  not  give  a  bounty,  and  before  they  would  give  a 
bounty,  they  would  give  up  the  dispute. 

"  The  cement  between  the  northern  and  southern  colonies  is  not  very 
strong,  if  forty  thousand  lawful,  will  induce  the  congress  to  give  us  up. 
Although  I  do  not  imagine  that  the  necessity  of  allowing  a  bounty  would 
have  broken  the  union,  yet  it  was  a  sufficient  intimation  that  the  bare  mention 
was  disagreeable.  Can  you  think  we  should  hesitate  a  moment  to  recommend 
a  bounty,  if  we  thought  ourselves  at  liberty  to  do  so?  We  should  then  have 
an  opportunity  of  picking  the  best  men,  filling  the  army  soon,  keeping  up  a 
proper  discipline,  and  preserving  good  order  and  government  in  camp;  while 
we  are  row  obliged  to  relax  the  very  sinews  of  military  government,  and  give 
a  latitude  of  indulgence  to  the  soldiery  incompatible  with  security  of  either 
camp  or  country.  What  reason  have  you  to  think  that  a  proposition  of  that 
sort,  if  it  came  recommended  by  general  officers,  would  be  acceded  to  by  the 
congress?  Most  of  the  generals  belong  to  the  northern  governments;  if  the 
congress  refuse  to  hear  their  delegates,  I  apprehend  they  would  the  generals 
also.  The  congress  cannot  suppose  that  the  generals  are  better  acquainted 
with  the  temper  and  genius  of  this  people,  than  the  delegates  are  from  these 
provinces;  and  why  they  should  refuse  to  hear  you,  and  not  us,  1  cannot 


imagine. 


"A  good  politician  will  always  have  an  eye  to  economy,  but  to  form  an 
extensive  plan,  and  not  provide  the  means  for  carrying  it  into  execution, 
betrays  either  a  defect  in  counsel,  or  want  of  resolution  to  prosecute. 


46  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.       "  There  is  nothing  that  will  encourage  our  enemies,  both  external  and 

11  . 

^-v^>  internal,  like  the  difficulties  we  meet  in  raising  a  new  army.     If  we  had  given 

a  good  bounty  and  raised  the  troops  speedily,  it  would  have  struck  the  minis 
try  with  astonishment  to  see  that  four  colonies  could  raise  such  an  army  in  so 
short  a  time.  They  could  not  expect  to  conquer  a  people  so  united,  firm,  and 
resolutely  determined  to  defend  their  rights  and  privileges.  But,  from  the 
difficulties  we  meet  with,  the  confusion  and  disorder  we  are  in,  the  large 
number  of  the  soldiers  who  are  going  home,  our  enemies  will  draw  a  conclu 
sion  that  we  are  like  a  rope  of  sand,  and  that  we  shall  soon  break  to  pieces. 
God  grant  it  may  not  be  the  case.  \ 

"  You  misunderstand  me,  my  dear  sir,  or  I  wrote  what  I  did  not  mean.  It 
was  not  the  lower  class  of  people  that  I  meant  to  complain  of,  but  the  mer 
chants  and  wealthy  farmers,  who,  I  think,  do  not  exert  themselves  as  they 
ought.  This  is  no  time  for  getting  riches,  but  to  secure  what  we  have  got. 
Every  shadow  of  oppression  or  extortion  ought  to  disappear;  but  instead  of 
this,  we  find  many  articles  of  merchandize  enhanced  in  price  four  times  the 
first  cost,  and  most  of  them  cent  per  cent  The  farmers  are  extortionate 
wherever  their  situation  furnishes  them  with  an  opportunity.  These  are  the 
people  that  I  complain  most  of;  they  ai  o  wounding  the  cause.  When  people 
are  distressed,  it  is  natural  for  them  to  try  every  thing  and  every  where  to  get 
relief;  and  to  find  oppression  instead  of  relief,  from  these  two  orders  of  men, 
will  go  near  to  driving  the  poorer  sort  to  desperation.  It  will  be  good  policy 
in  the  united  colonies  to  render  the  poorer  sort  of  people  as  easy  and  happy 
tinder  their  present  circumstances  as  possible;  for  they  are  creatures  of  a  day, 
•  ,  and  present  gain  and  gratification,  though  small,  has  more  weight  with  them 
than  much  greater  advantages  at  a  distance.  A  good  politician  must  and  will 
consider  the  temper  of  the  times  and  the  prejudices  of  the  people  he  has  to 
deal  with,  when  he  takes  his  measures  to  execute  any  great  design. 

"  The  current  sentiment  in  the  New  England  colonies  generallv  favours  the 
opposition;  but  if  the  distresses  of  the  people  are  multiplied,  their  opinions 
may  change.  They  will  naturally  look  back  upon  their  former  happy  situa 
tion,  and  contrast  that  with  their  present  worse  condition,  and  conclude  that 
the  source  of  all  their  misery  originates  in  their  dispute  with  Great  Britain. 

"  If  all  the  maritime  towns  throughout  the  united  colonies  had  a  body  of  troops 
in  continual  pay,  it  would,  in  a  great  measure,  remedy  this  evil.  Provision 
must  be  made  for  those  icho  are  thrown  out,  of  employ  by  the  decay  of  trade.  If 
they  are  not  engaged  for  us,  necessity  will  oblige  them  to  engage  against  us; 
for  they  cannot  live  upon  the  air.  \Vhat  signifies  our  being  frightened  at  the 
expense!  If  we  succeed,  we  gain  all;  but  if  we  are  conquered,  we  lose  all; 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  47 

not  only  our  present  possessions,  but  all  our  future  labours  will  be  appropriated  CHAP. 
to  the  support  of  a  haughty,  proud,  insolent  set  of  puppies,  whose  greatest  s^j^, 
merit  with  the  crown  will  be,  to  render  the  people  as  completely  humble  as 
possible. 

"  I  agree  with  you,  that  congress  should  embody  seventy  thousand  men — 
afl  the  troops  raised  in  the  different  colonies  to  b$  upon  continental  pay,  and 
where  there  are  any  stationed  for  the  protection  of  any  particular  province, 
to  be  considered  as  a  detachment  from  the  grand  army,  and  all  in  every 
province  to  be  subject  to  the  commander  in  chief,  and  at  his  disposal  and 
discretion.  A  body  of  troops  in  eacli  colony  would  support  the  spirited,  con 
firm  the  weak  and  wavering,  and  awe  our  oppressors  into  submission.  For 
there  are  no  arg.rnents,  however  well  supported  by  truth  and  reason,  that 
carry  such  conviction  with  t-iem  as  those  which  are  enforced  from  the  muzzle 
of  a  s;un,  or  the  point  of  a  bayonet. 

"  If  the  southern  and  northern  troops  were  exchanged,  it  would  be  service 
able  to  the  cause.  It  would  in  a  great  measure  cure  the  itch  for  going  home 
on  furlough,  and  save  the  continent  the  needless  expense  of  paying  a  large 
body  of  troops  that  are  absent  from  camp. 

"  You  complain  and  say  the  New  England  colonies  are  treated  ill.  Why 
are  they  treated  so?  You  think  there  ought  to  have  been  a  bounty  given. 
The  congress  always  had  it  in  their  power  to  give  a  bounty  if  they  pleased. 
Why  were  not  the  New  England  delegates  sent  to  establish  the  plan  for  the 
constitution  of  the  new  army  ?  Why  were  strangers  sent  at  so  critical  a 
period  ?  History  does  not  afford  so  dangerous  a  measure  as  that  of  disbandin^ 
ail  old  army  and  forming  a  new  one  within  point  blank  shot  of  the  enemy. 
This  task  was  rendered  very  difficult  by  the  reduction  of  eleven  regiment^ 
and  the  discharge  of  such  a  number  of  officers  who  have  done  every  thing  to 
obstruct  and  retard  the  filling  the  new  army,  in  hopes  to  ruin  the  establish 
ment  and  brins  themselves  into  place  again. 

"  From  whence  originates  that  groundless  jealousy  of  the  New  England 
colonies?  I  believe  there  is  nothing  more  remote  from  their  thoughts  than 
designs  unfavourable  to  the  equal  rights  of  the  other  colonies.  For  my  own 
part,  I  abhor  the  thoughts,  and  cannot  help  thinking  it  highly  injurious  to  the 
New  England  people,  who  ever  have  been  distinguished  for  their  justice  and 
moderation.  I  mentioned  this  subject  to  Mr.  Lynch  and  Colonel  Harrison, 
who  assured  me  there  was  no  such  sentiment  prevailing  in  congress,  nor 
among  the  southern  inhabitants  of  any  respectability.  1  am  sorry  to  find 
they  were  mistaken.  It  grieves  me  that  such  jealousies  should  prevail.  If 
they  are  nourished,  they  will  sooner  or  latter  sap  the  foundation  of  the  union 


48  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

-and  dissolve  the  connexion.     God  in  mercy  avert  so  dreadful  an  evil!     How 


^-x^  unhappy  is  it  for  the  interests  of  America,  that  such  colonial  prejudices  should 
prevail,  and  partial  motives  influence  her  councils!  The  interests  of  one 
colony  are  no  ways  incompatible  with  the  interests  of  another.  We  have  all 
one  common  interest,  and  one  common  wish  to  be  free  from  parliamentary 
jurisdiction  and  taxation.  The  different  climates  and  produce  of  the  colonies 
will  ever  preserve  a  harmony  amongst  them  by  an  active  trade  and  commerce. 
Each  colony  will  have  the  benefit  of  its  own  staples,  whether  they  are  inde 
pendent  or  connected  with  Great  Britain. 

"  Governor  Franklin  [of  New  Jersey]  and  the  assembly  go  on  with  a  high 
hand.  His  impudence  and  the  congress'  silence  astonish  all  this  part  of  the 
world.  To  suffer  such  presumption  to  go  unpunished,  betrays  a  want  of  spirit 
to  resent  or  power  to  punish.  The  dignity  of  the  congress  ought  to  be  held 
sacred,  or  else  its  authority  will  soon  be  brought  into  contempt.  His  conduct 
is  calculated  to  breed  a  mutiny  in  the  state;  such  budding  mischiefs  cannot  be 
too  early  nipped  ;  diseases  that  might  have  been  easily  remedied  if  seasonably 
attended  to,  have  often  been  rendered  incurable  by  being  too  long  neglected. 
I  wish  this  may  not  be  the  case  here. 

"  This  is  the  last  day  of  the  old  enlisted  soldiers'  service.  Nothing  but 
confusion  and  disorder  reign.  We  are  obliged  to  retain  their  guns,  whether 
private  or  public  property.  They  are  prized,  and  the  owners  paid  ;  but  as 
guns  last  spring  ran  very  high,  the  committee  that  values  them  sets  them  much 
lower  than  the  price  they  were  purchased  at.  This  is  looked  upon  to  be  both 
tyrannical  and  unjust.  I  am  very  sorry  that  necessity  forces  his  excellency  to 
adopt  any  measures  disagreeable  to  the  people.  But  die  army  cannot  be  pro 
vided  for  in  any  other  way;  and  those  we  detain  are  very  indifferent;  gene 
rally  without  bayonets,  and  of  different  sized  bores.  Twenty  thousand  troops 
with  such  arms,  are  not  equal  in  an  engagement  to  fifteen  thousand  with  such 
arms  as  the  king's  troops  are  equipped  with.  I  wish  our  troops  were  better 
furnished,  the  enemy  has  a  great  advantage  over  us. 

"  We  have  suffered  prodigiously  for  want  of  wood.  Many  regiments  have 
been  obliged  to  eat  their  provisions  raw  for  want  of  fuel  to  cook  it;  and  not 
withstanding  we  have  burnt  up  all  the  fences  and  cut  down  all  the  trees  for 
a  mile  round  the  camp,  our  sufferings  have  been  inconceiv  able.  The  barracks 
have  been  greatly  delayed  for  want  of  stuff.  Many  of  die  troops  are  yet  in 
tents,  and  will  be  for  some  time,  especially  the  officers.  The  fatigues  of  die 
campaign,  the  suffering  for  want  of  wood  and  clothing,  have  made  a  multitude 
of  soldiers  heartily  sick  of  service. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  41 

"  The  Connecticut  troops  went  off  in  spite  of  all  that  could  be  done  to  pre-   CHAP. 
•vent  it.     But  they  met  with  such  an  unfavourable  reception  at  home  that  s-r>^^ 
many  are  returning  to  camp  again  already.     The  people  upon  the  road  ex 
pressed  so  much  abhorrence  at  their  conduct  for  quitting  the  army,  that  it  was 
with  difficulty  they  got  provisions.     I  wish  all  the  troops  now  going  home 
may  meet  with  the  same  contempt     I  expect  the  army,  notwithstanding  all 
the  difficulties  we  meet  with,  will  be  full  in  about  six  weeks. 

"  We  never  have  been  so  weak  as  we  shall  be  to-morrow,  when  we  dismiss 
the  old  troops.  Our  growing  weaker,  whilst  the  enemy  are  growing  stronger, 
renders  our  situation  disagreeable. 

"  General  Lee  has  just  returned  from  Rhode  Island.  He  has  taken  the 
lories  in  hand,  and  sworn  them  by  a  very  solemn  oath,  that  they  would  not 
for  the  future  grant  any  supplies  to  the  enemy,  directly  or  indirectly,  nor  give 
them  any  kind  of  intelligence,  nor  suffer  it  to  be  done  by  others,  without  giving 

information.      ; and  -,  were  the  principals.     He  gives  a  very 

favourable  account  of  the  spirit  and  resolution  of  die  people. 

"  I  beg  leave  to  congratulate  you  on  the  recovery  of  your  health,  which 
may  God  in  his  providence  long  preserve,  that  you  may  enjoy  happiness  your 
self,  and  continue  a  blessing  to  your  country." 


General  Greene  to  Jacob  Greene,  Esq. 

"PROSPECT  HILL,  December  20f/i,  1775. 

"  Wallace,  I  hear,  continues  a  thorn  in  your  side — burning  and  destroying 
wherever  he  can  get  an  opportunity.  It  is  to  me  a  most  astonishing  thing  that 
the  committee  of  Newport  are  desirous  of  nourishing  such  a  serpent  in  the 
bosom  of  the  country.  If  his  depredations  were  to  cease  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  there  might  be  some  small  reason  for  listening  to  his  propositions. 
But,  for  him  to  obtain  his  supplies,  and  grant  an  indemnity  only  to  the  town 
of  Newport,  is  sacrificing  the  rest  of  the  province  to  the  benefit  of  that  town 
only;  for  he  will  be  continually  committing  piracies  upon  all  the  islands  and 
shores  that  he  can  get  footing  upon.  I  think  Wallace's  conduct  has  been  such, 
from  the  insults  and  abuses  he  has  offered  to  government,  that  it  is  highly 
dishonourable  to  have  any  further  intercourse  or  commerce  with  him.  Be 
sides,  these  separate  treaties  weaken  the  chain  of  connexion  and  injure  the 
general  interest  of  the  continent.  We  must  expect  to  make  partial  sacrifices 
for  the  public  good.  I  love  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island,  and  have  ever  had 

7 


60  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  a  very  great  affection  for  the  town  of  Newport;  but  I  am  not  so  attached  to 
v-o/->w/ either  as  to  be  willing  to  injure  the  common  cause  for  their  particular  benefit. 

'*  It  is  a  very  great  imhappiness  that  such  a  division  of  sentiment  in  political 
matters  prevails  in  the  colony ;  it  distracts  her  councils  and  weakens  her  exer 
tions.  The  committee  in  the  town  of  Newport,  you  say,  seem  inclined  to 
counteract  the  prevailing  sentiment  in  the  government.  It  is  astonishing  that 
ancient  prejudices  and  selfish  motives  should  prevail,  at  a  time  when  every 
thing  that  is  dear  and  valuable  is  at  stake.  I  hear  some  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Newport  are  very  jealous  of  the  views  of  the  town  of  Providence;  fearing  that 
the  latter  has  in  view  the  destruction  of  Newport,  for  their  own  private  advan 
tage.  I  cannot  harbour  a  thought  so  derogatory  to  the  patriotism  of  the  people 
of  Newport,  as  to  suppose  that  such  a  fear  can  have  any  real  existence.  Can 
the  inhabitants  of  Newport  suppose  that  the  legislature  of  the  colony  acts  upon 
such  absurd  principles  as  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  one  town  for  the  benefit  of 
another  ? 

"  George  III.'s  last  speech  has  shut  the  door  of  hope  for  a  reconciliation 
between  the  colonies  and  Great  Britain.  There  are  great  preparations  going 
on  in  England  to  prosecute  the  war  in  the  spring.  We  have  no  reason  to 
doubt  the  king's  intentions.  We  must  submit  unconditionally,  or  defend  our 
selves.  The  calamities  of  war  are  very  distressing,  but  slavery  is  dreadful. 
I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the  success  of  the  colonies,  when  I  consider  their 
union,  strength,  and  resources.  But  we  must  expect  to  feel  the  common 
calamities  which  attend  even  a  successful  war.  We  are  now  driven  to  the 
necessity  of  making  a  declaration  of  independence.  We  can  no  longer  pre 
serve  our  freedom  and  continue  the  connexion  with  her.  With  safety  we  can 
appeal  to  heaven  for  the  necessity,  propriety,  and  rectitude  of  such  a  measure. 

"  I  flatter  myself  the  king's  speech  will  induce  the  congress  to  raise  one 
large  continental  army  proportionable  to  the  extent  of  our  undertaking,  to  be 
under  one  commander,  and  by  him  directed  to  the  security  and  preservation 
of  the  several  united  governments.  This  will  unite  and  cement  the  whole 
strength  of  the  several  colonies.  If  this  method  is  not  adopted,  some  govern 
ments  from  their  natural  situation,  will  be  subject  to  fourfold  the  expense  of 
others  for  their  own  particular  security.  As  we  have  one  common  interest  in 
the  opposition,  and  it  is  merely  accidental  and  uncertain  where  the  enemy  may 
exert  their  greatest  force,  I  tliink  the  continent  ought  to  provide  for  the  security 
of  every  colony. 

"  Letters  were  received  this  day  from  General  Montgomery  near  Quebec. 
He  says  he  expects  to  be  master  of  the  place  in  a  very  little  time.  He  has 
powder  and  all  kinds  of  military  stores  to  facilitate  die  reduction.  He  and 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  51 

his  troops  are  in  good  health,  and  he  speaks  very  highly  of  Colonel  Arnold  and  CHAT. 
his  party.     Many  officers  and  a  large  number  of  the  privates  belong  to  our  ^,~^^. 
government. 

"The  regiments  fill  up  very  slowly  here.  It  is  really  discouraging:  I  fear 
die  advantages  proposed  from  so  large  an  armament  as  our  establishment  was 
to  consist  of,  will  be  defeated  by  the  length  of  time  it  takes  to  fill  the  army. 
However,  I  still  hope  for  better  things,  and  pray  God  my  expectations  may 
not  be  defeated.  If  the  congress  had  given  a  large  bounty,  and  engaged  the 
soldiery  during  the  ivar,  the  continent  would  be  much  securer,  and  the  measures 
cheaper  in  the  end.  The  wisest  may  sometimes  err.  To  profit  rightly  by  past 
evils  is  the  only  right  use  diat  can  be  made  of  former  misfortunes.  God  grant 
that  our  future  measures  may  be  so  taken,  as  to  render  our  success  equal  to  our 
wishes." 

The  three  following  extracts  will  serve  further  to  develope  to  the  reader, 
the  opinions  and  feelings,  or,  in  other  words,  the  mind  and  character  of  the 
subject  of  these  pages.  We  hope  he  will  not  be  inclined  to  attribute  the 
strong  language  of  the  first  of  these  to  any  remains  of  resentment  against  the 
inhabitants  of  the  place  in  which  the  meeting-house  is  situated,  from  which, 
with  all  due  attention  to  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  he  had  been  not  long 
since  expelled,  for  profiling  the  heretical  opinion,  "  that  the  rights  which  God 
has  given,  man  may  defend  with  the  sword."  Nor  must  the  reader  be  per 
mitted  to  rest  under  the  impression,  however  just  the  reflections  cast  upon  East 
Greenwich  may  have  been  at  the  time,  that  they  are  at  all  applicable  at  pre 
sent.  "We  can  assure  him,  that  he  will  find  as  kind-hearted  and  civil  people 
in  its  now  half-deserted  streets,  as  grace  the  most  flourishing  or  polished  cities. 

"  PROSPECT  HILL,  January  22d,  1776. 

"  I  am  glad  the  certificate  had  some  effect  upon  the  tyranny  of  East  Green 
wich.  An  exertion  of  arbitrary  power  not  paralleled  in  history.  The  polio  v 
of  that  town  has  ever  been  narrow  and  confined,  and  generally  as  dishonour 
able  as  unjust.  Nature  has  formed  it  for  a  place  of  trade  and  commerce,  but 
the  genius  of  the  people  and  their  measures  counteract  its  natural  advantages. 
I  am  told  the  old  inhabitants  treat  those  who  come  in  there  for  shelter  with 
great  incivility;  and  some  few  that  have  attempted  to  open  a  small  trade  witb 
the  country,  have  been  prohibited  in  the  most  peremptory  manner,  unless  they 
wTould  agree  to  sell  at  certain  stated  prices,  which  rendered  it  impossible  for 
them  to  support  their  business;  and  they  have  been  driven  off  by  it  to  Provi 
dence  and  other  places.  I  wish  to  God  their  sentiments  were  more  liberal, 


62  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  they  would  find  great  advantages  in  it.  I  am  glad  you  did  not  adopt  the 
^-v~^s  advice  of  those  who  were  for  opposing  die  committee.  You  observe  very 
justly — The  populace  borrow  almost  all  their  opinions.  A  few  designing 
men  can  sometimes  set  the  rabble  foul  of  the  best  of  characters,  and  ruin  their 
.  reputations  for  a  time.  It  is  unsafe  to  oppose  the  current  of  public  prejudices, 
but  one  may  seem  to  join  with  the  throng  and  swim  on  with  the  tide  of  public 
sentiment  for  a  time,  until  you  can  slip  out  unobserved,  without  injury  to 
yourself  or  your  country.  For,  when  the  first  heat  and  zeal  of  the  populace 
has  had  a  little  time  to  cool,  many  things  may  be  done  with  safety  that  would 
have  been  deemed  criminal  even  to  propose  but  a  little  before.  In  human 
affairs  we  have  only  to  watch  the  temper  of  the  times,  and  the  disposition  of 
the  people,  and  take  our  measures  from  them.  This  is  all  the  politician  can 
do.  He  cannot  drive  mankind  into  measures  that  are  even  necessary  to  pro 
mote  their  own  interest  and  happiness." 

"  PROSPECT  HILL,  February  8^,  1776. 

"  I  have  got  the  jaundice,  and  have  been  confined  twelve  or  fourteen  days, 
I  am  as  yellow  as  saffron,  my  appetite  all  gone,  and  my  flesh  too.  I  am  so 
weak  that  I  can  scarcely  walk  across  the  room.  But  I  am  in  hopes  I  am  get 
ting  something  hotter,  t  am  grievously  mortified  at  my  confinement,  as  this  is 
a  critical,  and  to  appearance,  wUl  he  an  important  period  of  the  American 
war.  Cambridge  Bay  is  frozpn  over;  if  the  weather  continues  a  few  days 
longer  as  cold  as  it  has  been  some  days  past,  it  will  open  a  passage  into  Bos 
ton.  Sick  or  well,  I  intend  to  be  there,  if  I  am  able  to  sit  on  horseback. 

"  There  is  nothing  new  in  camp,  only  preparations  making  for  the  attack. 
Whether  it  will  take  place  or  not,  God  only  knows.  Heaven  grant  us  success 
if  it  should  be  made.  That  will  depend  upon  the  bravery  of  the  troops ;  how 
they  will  act,  time  and  the  experiment  only  can  determine.  If  I  am  called 
from  time  to  eternity,  I  hope  you  will  see  justice  done  to  my  family.  I  com 
mit  them  to  you  and  the  rest  of  my  brothers." 

«  PROSPECT  HILL,  February  15th,  1776. 

"Your  apprehensions  about  attacking  Boston  are  very  well  founded  in 
many  respects.  The  troops  are  raw  and  undisciplined,  and  consequently  unfit 
for  an  attack  sword  in  hand.  But  out  of  an  army  of  20,000  men,  it  will  be 
hard  if  we  cannot  find  8,000  who  will  fight  manfully.  There  must  be  some 
cowards  among  them,  as  well  as  among  us.  But,  however,  an  attack  upon  a 
town  garrisoned  with  8,000  regular  troops,  is  a  serious  object,  and  ought  to  be 
well  considered  before  attempted.  I  always  thought  an  attack  with  20,000 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  63 

men  might  succeed.  I  still  think  so;  and  were  the  Bay  to  be  frozen  over,  I  CHAP. 
should  be  glad  to  see  the  attempt  made;  not  but  that  it  would  be  horrible  if  its^^^, 
succeeded,  and  still  more  horrible  if  it  failed.  But  the  advantage  that  America 
would  derive  from  making  ourselves  masters  of  that  garrison  at  this  time, 
would  be  inconceivable.  It  would  damp  the  spirits  of  Great  Britain,  and  give 
ours  a  new  spring.  In  a  word,  it  would  put  a  finishing  stroke  to  the  war;  it 
would  heal  all  the  divisions  among  ourselves ;  silence  the  tories,  and  work  a 
general  reformation  throughout  the  continent.  But  I  have  little  hopes  now  of 
such  a  happy  event,  as  the  weather  is  greatly  moderated,  and  the  scarcity  of 
powder  puts  it  out  of  our  power  to  attempt  any  thing  by  cannonading  or  bom 
bardment" 


64  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


m. 


CHAPTER   III. 


American  army  inoculated.  Boston  evacuated.  March  to  New  York.  General 
Hamilton.  Capture  of  Fort  Washington.  Battle  of  Trenton.  Battle  of 
Brandywine.  Enemy  in  possession  of  Philadelphia. 


CHAP.  DURING  the  winter  of  1775-6  nothing  material  transpired.  The  two 
armies  lay  in  sullen  silence  watching  each  other's  movements,  neither,  suffi 
ciently  confident  in  itself  to  commence  offensive  operations.  During  this  time, 
the  small-pox  raged  in  Boston.  And  a  very  general  alarm  prevailed  lest  it 
should  break  out  in  the  American  camp.  Nothing  in  that  event  could  have 
detained  the  militia  at  their  posts;  and  the  most  positive  information  having 
been  communicated  to  the  commander  in  chief,  that  the  enemy  intended  to 
introduce  it  into  the  American  camp,  he  entertained  the  most  lively  apprehen 
sions  respecting  the  consequences.  A  very  small  proportion  of  either  officers 
or  men  had  had  it,  and  besides  the  actual  loss  of  life  and  temporary  diminu 
tion  of  force  to  be  apprehended  from  it,  an  inevitable  consequence  would  have 
been,  a  difficulty  of  recruiting,  and  an  unwillingness  to  furnish  the  camp  from 
the  country.  The  patriotism  and  promptness  of  Greene  supplied,  in  part,  the 
remedy ;  at  his  suggestion,  Dr.  Scnter  was  appointed  to  open  a  hospital  at  the 
Coventry  Mills,  for  inoculating  the  officers,  and  Greene's  house  was  given  up 
for  the  purpose,  whilst  his  family  was  removed  into  lodgings.  Here,  many  of 
them  passed  through  the  disease,  and  others  succeeded  them,  as  soon  as  the 
first  party  could  return  to  duty. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  65 

In  the  last  of  March  1776,  the  enemy  evacuated  Boston,  and  sailed  to  pur-  CITAP. 
sue  other  operations.  Their  objects  in  this  campaign  were  to  reduce 
York  and  Charleston.  Clinton,  with  a  very  respectable  land  and  naval  force 
was  dispatched  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  the  latter  city,  but  the  memorable 
day  of  the  battle  of  Fort  Moultrie  defeated  this  part  of  the  plan.  Howe  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  possession  of  New  York.  At  his  first  sailing,  the  British 
commander's  designs  had  been  so  well  concealed,  that  in  the  American  camp 
his  destination  rested  altogether  in  conjecture.  But  Washington  acted  with 
vigour  upon  the  opinion  that  New  York  was  his  object.  His  troops  were  all 
ordered  on  to  that  place.  Greene  had  the  third  brigade  consigned  to  his  com 
mand,  with  orders  to  march  through  Providence  to  New  London,  and  there 
to  embark  for  Long  Island.  He  arrived  about  the  middle  of  April  at  the  place 
of  his  destination,  and  established  his  head-quarters  at  Brooklyn.  Here  he 
soon  received  information  of  the  partial  consummation  of  one  of  his  most 
ardent  wishes.  A  letter  from  Governor  Cook  of  Rhode  Island  enclosed  an 
act  of  the  state,  declaring  themselves  independent.  In  a  letter  of  May  14th, 
1776,  on  this  subject  he  observes,  "By  a  letter  from  Governor  Cook,  covering 
a  late  act  past  last  session  in  your  government,  you  have  declared  yourselves 
independent.  'Tis  nobly  done.  God  prosper  you,  and  crown  your  endea 
vours  with  success." 

The  army  was  encamped  under  the  orders  of  Washington,  partly  in  New 
York  and  partly  on  Long  Island.  The  division,  posted  on  Long  Island,  was 
placed  under  the  command  of  Greene.  With  indefatigable  assiduity  he 
applied  himself  to  the  duties  which  this  important  command  imposed  upon 
him,  and  expecting  himself,  as  did  the  commander  in  chief,  that  the  principal 
operations  of  the  enemy  would  be  carried  on  on  Long  Island,  he  lost  no  time 
in  making  every  preparation  to  meet  him,  and  in  acquiring  that  knowledge  of 
the  geography  of  the  country  which  was  necessary  to  meet  him  with  advan 
tage.  But  heaven  had  destined  our  hero,  on  this  occasion,  to  one  of  the  most 
serious  disappointments  of  his  life ;  or,  at  least,  one  that  he  appears  to  have  felt 
most  sensibly ;  it  was  the  first  of  a  long  series  to  which  he  was  destined,  and 
the  vicissitudes  of  military  life  were  yet  new  to  him. 

After  a  very  long  voyage  the  enemy  entered  the  Narrows  towards  the  last 
of  June;  and  by  a  singular  coincidence,  their  first  lauding,  avowedly  hostile, 
took  place  at  Staten  Island  on  the  very  day  of  the  declaration  of  indepen 
dence.  On  the  same  day  of  the  same  month  was  established  the  common 
wealth  under  Cromwell. 

On  Staten  Island,  they  remained  in  a  state  of  torpor  no  less  than  eight 
weeks,  when,  all  their  expected  reinforcements  being  united,  they  crossed  the 


56  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  bay,  and  on  the  22d  of  August  landed  at  Gravesend  Bay,  and  approached 
within  three  miles  of  the  American  lines.  Some  time  previous,  after  more 
than  ordinary  fatigue,  General  Greene  had  been  attacked  with  a  bilious  com 
plaint,  which  brought  him  to  the  brink  of  the  grave.  In  a  letter  from  General 
Washington  to  congress,  dated  the  23d  of  August,  are  found  these  lines:  "I 
have  been  obliged  to  appoint  Major  General  Sullivan  to  the  command  of  the 
island,  owing  to  General  Greene's  indisposition;  he  has  been  extremely  ill  for 
several  days,  and  still  continues  bad." 

The  unhappy  result  of  the  aflair  on  Long  Island  is  but  too  well  known. 
The  attack  was  conducted  on  behalf  of  the  enemy  with  skill  and  vigour. 
Whilst  a  strong  advanced  party  under  Lord  Stirling,  and  another  under  Gene 
ral  Sullivan,  were  warmly  assailed  in  front,  a  column  of  the  enemy  silendy 
moved  over  the  plain  that  stretches  along  the  south  side  of  the  island,  and 
turning  the  left  wing  of  our  troops  gained  their  rear  behind  the  range  of  hills 
that  runs  from  Brooklyn  to  Jamaica.  The  American  advance  fought  hero 
ically  until  borne  down  by  numbers,  and  both  Stirling  and  Sullivan  were 
made  prisoners.  Efforts  were  made  by  these  officers  to  retreat  within  the 
lines  of  Brooklyn  as  soon  as  the  ruse  de  guerre  of  the  enemy  was  discovered, 
but  it  was  too  late ;  the  stratagem  had  succeeded.  That  evening  the  whole 
army  retreated  over  the  East  River,  ere  the  movement  appears  to  have  been 
suspected  by  tbe  enemy. 

In  a  letter  of  Greene's  of  the  30th  of  August,  communicating  this  affair,  is 

contained  the  following  passage  : 

/ 

"  Providence  took  me  out  of  the  way;  I  have  been  very  sick  for  near  three 
weeks;  for  several  days  there  was  a  hard  struggle  between  nature  and  the 
disorder.  I  am  now  a  little  better,  though  scarcely  able  to  sit  up  an  hour  at  a 
time.  I  have  no  strength  or  appetite,  and  my  disorder,  from  its  operation, 
appears  to  threaten  me  with  long  confinement.  Gracious  God!  to  be  con 
fined  at  such  a  time.  And  the  misfortune  is  doubly  great,  as  there  was  no 
general  officer  who  had  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  ground  as  perfectly 
as  I  had.  I  have  not  the  vanity  to  think  the  event  would  have  been  other 
wise  had  I  been  there,  yet  I  tliink  I  could  have  given  the  commanding  gene 
ral  a  great  deal  of  necessary  information.  Great  events  sometimes  depend 
'  upon  very  little  causes."  "  I  think  from  this  manoeuvre  the  general  proposes 
to  retreat  to  Kingsbridgc,  and  there  make  the  grand  stand."  "  If  this  is  the 
determination,  two  to  one  New  York  is  laid  in  ashes." 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  57 

His  conjectures  on  the  subject  of  making  a  stand  at  Kingsbridge  were  CHAP. 
realized  by  the  event     Nor  were  his  apprehensions  for  the  fate  of  New  York  ^r>v^> 
altogether  chimerical.      General  Washington  in  a  letter  of  September  2d, 
1776,  actually  submits  the  question  to  congress,  whether  it  should  be  destroyed 
or  not ;  and  one  would  almost  be  inclined  to  think,  that  the  tenor  of  this  letter 
solicits  the  sanction  of  congress  to  this  measure.     A  similar  sacrifice  in  modern 
times  is  said  to  have  been  the  salvation  of  a  mighty  kingdom,  and  great  and 
good  men  may  be  driven  by  the  necessities  of  war  to  perform  acts  most  repug 
nant  to  their  feelings. 

It  was  soon  after  Greene's  arrival  on  Long  Island,  and  during  the  time  of 
his  command  at  that  post,  that  he  became  acquainted  with  the  late  General 
Hamilton,  afterwards  so  conspicuous  in  the  councils  of  this  country.  It  was 
his  custom  when  summoned  to  attend  the  commander  in  chief,  to  walk,  ac 
companied  by  one  or  more  of  his  aids,  from  the  ferry  landing  to  head-quar 
ters.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  when  passing  by  the  place  then  called  the 
park,  now  enclosed  in  the  railing  of  the  City-Hall,  and  which  wras  then  the 
parade  ground  of  the  militia  corps,  Hamilton  was  observed  disciplining  a 
juvenile  corps  of  artillerists,  who,  like  himself,  aspired  to  future  usefulness. 
Greene  knew  not  who  he  was,  but  his  attention  wras  rivetted  by  the  vivacity 
of  his  motion,  the  ardour  of  his  countenance,  and  not  less  by  the  proficiency 
and  precision  of  movement  of  his  little  corps.  Halting  behind  die  crowd 
until  an  interval  of  rest  afforded  an  opportunity,  an  aid  was  dispatched  to 
Hamilton  with  a  compliment  from  General  Greene  upon  the  proficiency  of 
his  corps,  and  the  military  manner  of  their  commander,  with  a  request  to 
favour  him  with  his  company  to  dinner  on  a  specified  day.  Those  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  ardent  character  and  grateful  feelings  of  Hamilton,  will 
judge  how  this  message  was  received.  The  attention  never  was  forgotten, 
and  not  many  years  elapsed  before  an  opportunity  occurred,  and  was  joyfully 
embraced  by  Hamilton,  of  exhibiting  his  gratitude  and  esteem  for  the  man 
whose  discerning  eye  had  at  so  early  a  period  done  justice  to  his  talents  and 
pretensions.  Greene  soon  made  an  opportunity  of  introducing  his  young 
acquaintance  to  the  commander  in  chief,  and  from  his  first  introduction 
Washington  "  marked  him  for  his  own." 

As  soon  as  his  debilitated  state  would  permit  him,  Greene  joined  the  retreat 
ing  army,  and  shared  in  all  the  misfortunes  and  mortifications  of  his  beloved 
commander.  He  had  now  been  promoted  to  a  major  general's  commission. 
And  when  General  Washington  marched  to  White  Plains,  as  there  was  a 
strong  detachment  of  the  enemy  still  on  Staten  Island,  the  command  of  the 
-American  troops  in  New  Jersey,  destined  to  watch  the  movements  of  that  de- 


68  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  tachment  of  the  enemy,  was  assigned  to  Greene.     His  head-quarters  were  at 

vx-^^-^/  Bergen,  at  Basken  Ridge,  or  at  Fort  Lee,  according  as  the  situation  of  affairs 

rendered  his  presence  necessary.     The  important  object  was  to  keep  open  a 

communication  with  the  main  army  on  the  east  of  the  Hudson,  and  secure  a 

retreat  for  Washington,  if  a  retreat  should  become  necessary. 

From  the  last  of  September  to  the  middle  of  November,  the  main  army 
Was  employed  in  marching  and  countermarching,  to  elude  the  manoeuvres  of 
Howe,  and  to  wear  out  the  campaign  so  as  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  over 
running  the  Jerseys  and  advancing  upon  Philadelphia.  The  American  army 
was  now  extremely  feeble,  and  hourly  wearing  away;  and  the  officers  exposed 
to  the  severest  toils  and  most  gloomy  forebodings  that  could  result  from  the 
unpromising  state  of  affairs,  and  the  continued  adherence  of  congress  to  the 
wretched  system  of  short  enlistments  and  militia  requisitions.  But  Washing 
ton  now  plainly  told  them,  that  their  country  was  lost,  if  they  any  longer 
adhered  to  this  short-sighted  and  mistaken  policy.  His  two  letters  of  Sep 
tember  24th  and  October  4th,  ought  to  be  piously  read  by  every  Ampncan, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  observe  in  what  perfect  concurrence  the  opinions  O 
these  two  great  men  were  expressed  upon  the  same  subject. 

In  a  private  letter  of  September  28th,  1776,  Greene  expresses  himself  thus: 
"  I  apprehend  the  several  retreats  that  have  lately  taken  place  begin  to  make 
you  think  all  is  lost.  Don't  be  frightened;  our  cause  is  not  yet  in  a  desperate 
state.  The  policy  of  congress  has  been  the  most  absurd  and  ridiculous  ima 
ginable — pouring  in  militiamen  who  come  and  go  every  month.  A  military 
force  established  upon  such  principles,  defeats,  itself.  People  coming  from 
tome  with  all  the  tender  feelings  of  domestic  life,  are  not  sufficiently  fortified 
with  natural  corn-age  to  stand  the  shocking  scenes  of  war.  To  march  over 
dead  men,  to  hear  without  concern  the  groans  of  the  wounded — I  say  few 
men  can  stand  such  scenes,  unless  steeled  by  habit,  or  fortified  by  military 
pride. 

"There  must  be  a  good  army  established;  men  engaged  for  the  war;  a 
proper  corps  of  officers,  and  then,  after  a  proper  time  to  discipline  the  men, 
every  tiling  is  to  be  expected. 

"  The  congress  goes  upon  a  penurious  plan.  The  present  pay  of  the  offi 
cers  will  not  support  them,  and  it  is  generally  determined  by  the  best  officers 
to  quit  the  service,  unless  a  more  adequate  provision  is  made  for  their  support. 
The  present  establishment  is  not  thought  reputable. 

"  The  congress  has  never  furnished  die  number  of  men  voted,  by  near  one 
half,  certainly  by  above  a  third.  Had  we  had  numbers,  we  need  not  have 
retreated  horn  Lon.r  island  or  New  York.  But  die  extent  of  ground  to  guard 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE,  69 

rendered  the  retreat  necessary ;  otherwise  the  army  would  have  been  ruined   CHAP. 
by  detachments.     The  enemy  never  could  have  driven  us  from  Long  Island  ^^^^ 
and  New  York,  if  our  rear  had  been  secured.     We  must  have  an  army  to  meet 
the  enemy  everywhere;  to  act  offensively  as  well  as  defensively.     Our  sol 
diers  are  as  good  as  ever  were,  and  were  the  officers  half  as  good  as  the  men, 
they  would  beat  any  army  on,  the  globe  of  equal  numbers." 

This  observation  relative  to  the  officers  was  no  doubt  elicited  by  facts  that 
had  come  to  the  general's  knowledge  relative  to  the  officering  of  some  of  the 
eastern  corps  then  in  service.  That  most  miserable  of  all  systems,  which  ren 
ders  the  officers  subordinate  to  the  men  by  giving  the  men  the  election  of 
the  officers,  had  been  adopted  in  some  of  the  states.  And  it  is  a  well  known 
fact,  that  in  some  instances  the  commission  was  actually  purchased  by  a  com 
pact  to  throw  the  pay  and  emoluments  into  a  common  stock  and  divide  it 
equally.  To  see  a  captain  \vith  his  drummer  and  fifer  at  table  with  him,  is 
asserted  by  an  eye  witness  to  have  been  a  familiar  occurrence;  and  on  one 
occasion,  a  colonel  being  seen  carrying  home  Ms  ration  of  beef  slung  on  his 
finger,  declared  that  he  did  it  to  set  the  officers  a  good  example.*  These  were 
the  officers  to  whom  the  general  alludes  in  the  concluding  part  of  his  letter ; 
and  not  the  seven  times  tried  heroes,  who  afterwards  fought  the  battles  of 
the  revolution. 

In  another  private  letter  of  the  3d  of  October  1776,  he  expresses  himself  on 
the  same  subject  thus:  "  The  congress  have  ordered  eighty-eight  regiments  to 
be  raised  for  the  war.  This  looks  well.  For  God's  sake  let  us  have  good 
officers  from  Rhode  Island,  if  you  wish  to  preserve  its  reputation.  We  want 
nothing  but  good  officers  to  constitute  as  good  an  army  as  ever  marched  into 
the  field.  Our  men  are  infinitely  better  than  the  officers.  I  do  not  speak  of 
Rhode  Island  officers,  for  they  are  generally  good,  and  behaved  exceedingly 
well  in  the  late  action.  They  did  themselves  a  great  deal  of  honour.  I  shall 
send  a  list  to  the  governor  of  such  as  deserve  a  preference.  I  think  you  may 
officer  your  regiment  as  well  as  any  on  the  continent,  if  you  will  consult 
nothing  but  the  merit  of  the  man." 

There  is  in  this  letter  a  paragraph  which  is  rather  foreign  from  the  subject 
we  are  upon.  But  it  merits  to  be  copied  into  these  pages,  as  it  exhibits  a 
mind  fertile  in  resources  whatever  it  be  applied  to,  and  suggests  a  ruse  de 
guerre  which  has  actually,  in  later  times,  been  successfully  resorted  to,  within 
the  knowledge  of  the  writer. 


*  Captain  Grayden. 


60  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CniAP*  ^e  ^etter  '1S  ^dressed  to  a  gentleman  who  was  interested  in  several  priva- 
N-r>v^  teers,  and  who  had  suffered  by  repeated  recaptures.  "  This  fall,"  says  the 
writer,  "  will  be  the  last  of  the  harvest.  After  this  season,  all  the  navigation 
of  Great  Britain  will  go  armed  sufficiently  to  manage  the  small  cruizers  of 
America.  If  your  privateers  should  take  any  vessels  bound  to  America  or 
Great  Britain,  let  the  prize-master  assume  the  character,  and  personate  the 
original  captain;  if  he  should  have  the  misfortune  to  fall  in  with  an  enemy's 
vessel,  let  him  answer,  *  bound  to  and  came  from  the  port  mentioned  in  the 
ship's  papers.'  If  the  captain  or  prize-master  does  this  with  sufficient  effrontery, 
nothing  but  personal  knowledge  can  detect  him.  It  would  be  a  good  method 
to  engage  the  crews  of  the  prizes  by  giving  them  an  opportunity  to  enter  on 
board  the  privateer,  and  to  share  in  all  the  prizes  made  after  they  entered  on 
board.  This  may  enable  the  captain  of  the  privateer  to  continue  his  cruize, 
and  bring  in  a  number  of  prizes,  when  he  would  otherwise  be  obliged  to 
return  home  for  want  of  men.  And  as  to  the  fidelity  and  attachment  of  the 
sailors,  you  may  depend  upon  it,  they  will  be  as  faithful  after  becoming  inte 
rested,  as  the  generality  of  our  own  seamen. 

"  This  fall  is  the  golden  harvest.  I  think  the  fishing  ships  at  the  eastward 
may  be  objects  of  attention  this  fall.  In  the  spring,  the  East  India  ships  may 
be  intercepted  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  Were  I  at  liberty,  I  think  I  could 
make  a  fortune  for  my  family.  But  it  is  necessary  for  some  to  be  in  die  field, 
to  secure  the  property  of  others  in  their  stores." 

It  was  on  the  16th  of  November  in  this  year,  that  Fort  Washington  sur 
rendered  to  the  British  arms.  And  as  some  writers  have  thought  proper  to 
censure  the  conduct  of  Greene  in  that  affair,  and,  at  the  time  it  occurred,  public 
opinion  imputed  the  misfortune  in  a  great  measure  to  his  not  ordering  the  fort 
to  be  abandoned  in  time,  it  becomes  necessary  to  give  a  particular  account  of 
the  part  which  devolved  upon  him  in  that  affair.  He  never  entered  into  a 
public  vindication  of  his  conduct,  but  it  will  be  found  that  this  was  a  generous 
sacrifice  to  die  feelings  of  die  commander  in  chief,  or  perhaps  it  may  be  attri 
buted  to  an  habitual  indifference  to  the  opinions  of  those  to  whom  he  was  not 
responsible  for  his  conduct. 

Fort  Washington  was  constructed  on  a  commanding  eminence  on  Man 
hattan  Island,  two  and  a  half  miles  below  Kingsbridge,  and  where,  by  the 
approach  of  the  Harlaem  Creek  to  the  North  River,  the  island  is  reduced  to  a 
narrow  strip  of  about  five  eighths  of  a  mile  in  width.  This  creek  communi 
cates  with  the  East  River  near  Hurl  Gate;  and  uniting  with  a  stream  that 
communicates  with  the  North  River,  forms  Manhattan  Island.  Fort  Wash 
ington  was  near  the  bank  of  the  North  River,  covered  to  the  south-west  by  a 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  61 

small  creek  and  morass.     Parallel,  nearly,  to  each  other,  and  in  an  easterly  CHAP. 
direction  so  as  to  strike  the  Harlaem  Creek  at  the  nearest  point  from  thev^^^^ 
North  River,  two  slight  field  works  were  thrown  up  about  two  hundred  yards 
from  each  other,  and  comprising  the  fort  between  them.     There  was  an  open 
space  between  the  extremities  of  these  lines  upon  the  bank  of  the  Harlaem. 

Fort  Lee  was  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  North  River,  on  the  narrow  neck 
of  land  formed  by  the  approach  of  the  Hackcnsack  to  the  North  River. 

The  original  design  for  which  these  forts  \vere  constructed  was  to  prevent 
the  ships  of  the  enemy  from  ascending  the  river.  A  design  conceived  in  the 
days  of  our  military  infancy,  and  which  the  experience  of  a  few  days  showed 
to  have  been  conceived  in  military  ignorance.  The  vessels  passed  with  an  ah* 
of  ridicule.  But  still,  when  our  troops  were  obliged  to  abandon  the  city, 
these  forts  were  found  to  answer  two  important  purposes:  they  kept  open  the 
communication  between  the  opposite  shores  of  the  Hudson  ;  and  that  on  the 
east  served  to  protect  the  encampment  on  the  heights  of  Harlaem,  and  gave  a 
strength  to  this  position  which  deterred  the  enemy  from  attempting  to  cany  it. 
But  still  the  forts  might  be  passed,  and  could  the  enemy  have  possessed  himself 
of  Kingsbridge  by  his  troops,  and  of  the  river  by  his  shipping,  retreat  would 
have  been  impossible,  and  the  American  army  must  have  fallen.  With  these 
objects  in  view,  Howe  ascended  the  East  River,  and  landed  at  a  place  called 
Frog's  Neck;  and  Washington,  penetrating  his  design,  passed  over  from  the 
island  and  took  an  impenetrable  position  on  the  main,  in  his  enemy's  front. 
This  was  in  the  last  of  October,  and  from  this  dine  was  conducted  a  series  of 
the  most  skilful  manoeuvres;  the  enemy  having  for  his  object  to  find  an  op 
portunity  to  attack  with  advantage,  or  to  turn  the  left  of  our  army ;  whilst 
Washington,  by  the  most  cautious  movements,  manoeuvred  so  as  to  prevent 
the  enemy  from  taking  advantage  of  his  superiority,  keeping  always  three 
objects  in  view ;  first,  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  cutting  him  off  from  the 
Hudson;  second,  from  intercepting  his  retreat  to  the  Highlands  if  necessary; 
or,  third,  from  cutting  him  off  from  tiie  country  to  the  north-east  of  the  Hud 
son,  which  furnished  his  supplies.  This  game  of  skill  was  kept  up  until  the 
13th  of  November,  when,  Washington  crossed  a  part  of  his  army  over  to  die 
west  side  of  the  North  River,  and  joined  General  Greene  at  Fort  Lee: 
whilst  General  Lee,  left  in  command  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  with  the 
enemy  still  near  enough  to  strike  him,  retired  until  he  threw  the  Croton 
between  him  and  his  superior  foe.  Howe  then  descended  to  attack  Fort 
Washington,  and  thus  to  obtain  the  undivided  possession  of  Manhattan  Island. 
When  General  Washington  moved  across  <be  Ha-Inem  to  throw  himself  in 
front  of  Howe,  he  had  placed  Colonel  M'Gaw  in  command  at  that  post,  with 


62  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  orders  to  defend  it  to  the  last  extremity.  The  force  assigned  him  for  this 
.purpose  consisted  of  about  thirteen  hundred  troops,  chiefly  of  the  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland  contingents.  The  measure,  his  biographer  asserts,  was  advised 
by  a  council  of  war.  .  General  Washington  himself  says  it  was  by  advice  of 
most  of  his  general  officers. 

The  capture  of  Fort  Washington  was  also  the  achievement  of  a  masterly 
manoeuvre  successfully  practised  upon  the  American  post.  Howe  had  occu 
pied  a  position  on  the  cast  of  the  Harlaem,  opposite  to  where  the  two  Ame 
rican  lines  approached  that  stream.  Here  he  erected  a  battery,  which  com 
manded  a  great  part  of  die  ground  stretching  from  Fort  Washington  to  the 
banks  of  the  Harlaem.  The  16th  of  November  was  the  day  fixed  on  for  die 
attack ;  and  M'Gaw,  attentive  to  his  designs,  had  made  every  preparation  to 
receive  him.  These  designs  had  been  developed,  as  far  as  they  were  intended 
to  be  obvious,  by  the  movements  of  the  day  before.  Tliree  (some  accounts 
say  five)  thousand  Hessians  had  ascended  the  Harlaem,  and  crossed  the  Kings- 
bridge;  while  twice  that  number  of  British  troops  had  fallen  down  the  stream, 
and  established  themselves  to  the  south  of  the  American  lines.  M'Gaw  being 
summoned  to  surrender,  replied  as  usual,  that  he  would  defend  the  fort  to  the 
last  extremity,  and  Greene  passed  over  to  him  a  reinforcement  of  600  militia 
to  support  him  in  the  effort. 

Colonel  Rawlins,  at  the  head  of  a  regiment  of  Marylanders,  posted  on  a 
commanding  eminence  to  the  north  of  the  fort,  was  opposed  to  General  Knip- 
hausen.  Colonel  Cadwallader,  with  800  men,  occupied  the  lines  to  the  south, 
and  had  to  sustain  the  attack  of  the  British  column  commanded  by  Lord 
Percy;  and  Colonel  Baxter,  with  a  regiment  of  militia,  was  posted  on  the 
steep  and  rocky  banks  of  the  Harlaem,  opposite  the  British  fort. 

The  attack  on  Rawlins  and  Cadwallader  was  made  at  the  same  instant, 
about  10  o'clock  in  the  day,  and  was  met  with  rival  gallantry.  Rawlins'  fire 
was  particularly  destructive  to  the  Hessians.  It  was  the  first  trial  of  the 
American  rifle  upon  the  enemy.  Covered  by  the  trees,  the  carnage  made 
among  then-  enemies  scarcely  admitted  the  belief  that  the  latter  counted  at 
least  six  times  the  American  numbers.  Here  it  was  that  Otho  Williams,  then 
a  major  in  the  Maryland  line,  and  whom. we  shall  often  have  to  name  in  these 
pages,  gave  the  first  presage  of  those  soldierly  qualities  which  afterwards  so 
highly  distinguished  him.  He  was  here  severely  wounded  and  made  prisoner. 

At  the  lines  also,  Cadwallader  appears  to  have  kept  the  enemy  successfully  at 
bay,  until  the  developement  of  Howe's  plan  of  attack,  disconcerted  the  Avhole 
of  the  measures  pursued  by  the  Americans. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  6 

A  strong  column  of  British  troops,  commanded  by  some  of  Howe's  best  CHAP. 
officers,  had  been  held  in  reserve  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Harlaem,  and 
completely  masked  from  view,  that  when  the  Americans  thought  themselves 
engaged  with  the  whole  British  force,  to  their  astonishment  they  were  apprised 
that  a  formidable  and  fresh  enemy  was  descending  the  Harlaem,  and  about  to 
effect  a  landing  on  the  rocky  shore  which  extends  nothwardly  from  the  post 
occupied  by  Colonel  Baxter.  Pressed  before  by  very  superior  numbers,  this 
new  danger  which  threatened  the  rear  of  both  Rawlins  and  Cadwallader, 
required  immediate  attention.  About  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  dispatched 
from  Cadwallader's  command,  and  one  hundred  from  the  fort,  in  vain  op 
posed  a  prompt  and  resolute  resistance  to  eight  hundred  picked  men,  already 
landed  and  forcing  their  way  up  the  hill.  But  the  contest  was  not  bloodless. 
A  loss  of  eight  hundred  killed  and  wounded,  acknowledged  by  the  enemy  on 
this  day,  sufficiently  vindicates  the  valour  of  about  tliirteen  hundred  men,  the 
whole  American  force  actually  engaged. 

Upon  the  first  developement  of  this  manoeuvre  of  Lord  Howe's,  intelligence 
of  it  had  been  transmitted  across  the  Hudson,  and  the  anxiety  of  Greene, 
Sullivan,  Putnam,  and  several  other  general  officers  to  determine  the  reality 
and  extent  of  the  danger,  induced  them  to  pass  die  river,  and  hasten  over  to 
the  banks  of  the  Harlaem,  where  the  two  parties  wrere  now  contending  j~  ~  the 
possession  of  the  bank.  From  a  hill  in  the  rear  of  the  Americans  they  soon 
discovered  the  fatal  success  of  the  enemy's  manoeuvre,  for  the  British  detach 
ment  already  appeared  above  the  hills  that  skirt  the  river,  and  in  fifteen 
minutes  after  wras  established  in  force  on  the  yery  hill  from  which  it  had  been 
reconnoitred. 

The  Americans  now  retreated  to  the  fort,  and  by  the  capitulation  which 
followed,  the  American  cause  sustained  a  loss  of  two  thousand  men,  and  a 
more  irreparable  loss  of  artillery,  arms,  and  munitions  of  war. 

The  charge  made  against  General  Greene  on  this  occasion  was,  theit  he 
suffered  that  loss  to  be  incurred  when  he  ought  to  have  withdrawn  the  gam- 
son  and  stores,  and  not  have  suffered  them  to  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands;-  that 
he  in  fact  increased  tiie  loss  by  a  detachment  of  six  hundred  militia  -ent  over 
to  the  fort.  For  these  causes  his  judgment  was  arraigned,  and  his  military 
reputation  attacked.  The  notice  which  Mr.  Marshall  takes  of  this  event  is 
thus  expressed : 

"  From  too  great  a  confidence  in  the  strength  of  the  post  at  Fort  Washing 
ton,  and  a  hope  that  by  still  further  increasing  the  obstructions  in  the  North 
River,  the  original  object  for  which  that  place  had  been  fortified  might  be 
obtained ;  from  an  unwillingness  too,  further  to  discourage  the  army  by  an 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

evacuat*on  °f  its  posts,  General  Greene  had  not  withdrawn  the  garrison  under 
discretionary  orders  he  had  received  on  that  subject;  but  still  indulged  a 
hope  that  the  post  might  be  maintained;  or,  if  its  situation  should  become 
desperate,  that  means  might  be  found  to  transport  the  troops  across  the  river 
.to  the  Jersey  shore,  which  was  defended  by  Fort  Lee."  * 

Never  were  the  views  and  motives  of  a  military  commander  more  entirely 
misunderstood.  We  know  not  upon  what  authority  Mr.  Marshall  attributes  to 
General  Greene  "  too  great  confidence  in  the  strength  of  the  post  at  Fort 
Washington ;"  since  General  Washington  in  his  communication  to  congress  of 
the  date  of  the  16th  November,  only  writes  that  "  General  Greene  struck  with 
the  importance  of  the  post,  and  the  discouragement  which  our  evacution  of 
posts  must  necessarily  have  given,  reinforced  Colonel  M'Gaw  with  detachments 
from  several  regiments  of  the  flying  camp,  but  chipfly  of  Pennsylvania  troops, 
so  as  to  make  the  number  about  two  thousand."  Nor  does  the  general  hesi 
tate  to  avow,  that  the  preservation  of  that  post  was  a  favourite  object  of  his 
own,  or  to  present  such  a  view  of  Greene's  agency  in  that  affair  as  to  show 
that  he  acted  precisely  in  the  spirit  of  the  orders  communicated  to  him. 

General  Washington's  words  are  these:  "  The  preservation  of  the  passage  of 
the  North  River  was  an  object  of  so  much  consequence,  that  I  thought  no 
pains  or  expense  too  great  for  that  purpose.  And  therefore,  after  sending  off 
all  the  valuable  stores,  except  such  as  were  necessary  for  its  defence,  I  deter 
mined,  agreeable  to  the  advice  of  most  of  the  general  officers,  to  risk  some 
thing  to  defend  the  post  on  the  east  side,  called  Mount  Washington.  When 
the  army  moved  up,  in  consequence  of  General  Howe's  landing  at  Frog  Point, 
Colonel  M'Gaw  was  left  in  that  command  with  about  twelve  hundred  men, 
with  orders  to  defend  it  to  the  last.  Afterwards,  reflecting  on  the  smallness  of 
the  garrison,  and  the  difficulty  of  their  holding  it  if  General  Howe  should  fall 
down  upon  it  with  his  whole  force,  I  wrote  to  General  Greene,  who  had  the. 
command  on  the  Jersey  shore,  directing  him  to  govern  himself  by  circumstances, 
and  to  retain  or  evacuate  the  post  as  he  should  think  best,  and  so  far  revoking 
the  absolute  order  to  Colonel  M'Gaw  to  defend  the  post  to  the  last  extre 
mity.'^ 

From  this  letter  it  is  obvious,  that  if,  under  existing  ci;  cumstances  the  post 
could  not  with  prudence  be  abandoned,  it  perfectly  comporte  with  General 
Washington's  views  to  add  to  the  strength  of  its  garrison.  It  is  the  weakness 
of  that  garrison  which  he  avows  to  congress  as  the  ground  upon  wluch  he 


*  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  2,  p.  512.         '    t  Letter  of  16th  November  1776. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  65 

wavered  at  this  time,  in  liis  original  design  of  defending  that  post  at  all   CH\P. 

HI 

hazards.     No\v,  to  have  abandoned  the  fort  at  that  time,  must  have  exposed  ^^^^^ 
the  main  army  to  the  most  imminent  peril. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  until  the  receipt  of  the  letter  in  which  General 
Washington  authorizes  Greene  to  withdraw  the  garrison,  the  latter  possessed 
no  sort  of  control  over  this  post.  His  command  was  limited  to  the  Jersey 
shore,  and  Colonel  M'Gaw  was  acting  under  die  immediate  orders  of  the 
commander  in  chief.  , 

The  letter  communicating  this  authority  bears  date  the  8th  of  November ; 
two  days  after  it  had  been  resolved  in  a  council  of  war,  to  retreat  with  the 
American  army  into  the  Jerseys,  and  after  orders  had  been  issued  to  Greene  to 
cover  the  passage  of  the  river  at  Dobbs'  Ferry  for  that  purpose.  General 
Washington  lay  at  this  time  under  the  eye  of  a  superior  army,  commanded  by 
veteran  and  able  officers,  and  was  about  to  venture  upon  an  important  reduc 
tion  of  his  effective  force  by  detaching  all  the  eastern  troops  under  General 
Lee  to  hold  possession  of  the  Highlands  on  die  east  of  the  Hudson.  In  the 
letter  of  the  8th  wliich  authorizes  the  abandonment  of  Fort  Washington,  a 
reason  is  urged  for  the  measure,  which  led  to  a  conclusion  directly  contrary 
to  that  which  the  commander  in  chief  deduces  from  it  The  fact  alluded  to  is, 
the  recent  passage  of  several  frigates  up  the  river,  in  despite  of  the  guns  and 
booms  opposed  to  them  by  the  American  posts.  Now,  had  the  British  ship 
ping  passed  up  the  river  in  sufficient  force  to  watch  the  various  ferries  on  the 
North  River,  or  even  Dobbs'  alone,  what  would  have  been  the  situation  of 
the  army  under  Washington?  He  must  either  have  retreated  up  the  river 
until  the  whole  country  below  him,  and  the  two  forts  themselves,  were  left  at 
the  mercy  of  the  enemy,  or  have  fought  at  a  time  and  place  prescribed  by  his 
adversary,  or,  finally,  have  descended  the  river,  and  effected  his  passage  under 
cover  of  the  only  guns  that  could  have  controlled  the  operations  of  a  naval 
force,  to  wit,  the  guns  of  Fort  Washington.  The  last  alternative  is  certainly 
that  to  which,  in  such  an  event,  the  commander  in  chief  would  have  resorted ; 
and  hence,  to  have  abandoned  this  fort  until  the  main  army  had  effected  the 
passage  of  the  river,  would  have  been  little  short  of  madness.  These  are  the 
considerations  to  which  General  Washington  must  b;?  understood  to  have 
alluded  when  he  says  that,  "  General  Greene  struck  with  the  importance  of  the 
post,  &c.  reinforced  Colonel  M'Gaw,  &c."  And  far  from  disapproving  of 
General  Greene's  conduct  on  this  occasion,  it  only  served  still  further  to  excite 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  commander. 

But  there  existed  other  reasons  to  justify  the  conduct  of  General  Greene.— 

9 


66  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

:  £Hfp-  The  principal  cause  that  checked  Lord  Howe  from  pressing  General  Wash- 
\^->^^  ington  up  the  east  b?nk  of  the  Hudson,  was  the  possession  of  a  post  by  the 
Americans  on  the  Manhattan  Island ;  it  excited  in  him  a  jealousy  for  New 
York,  and  not  only  compelled  him  to  leave  a  strong  detachment  for  its  clefence, 
but  made  him  uneasy  for  the  possible  consequences  that  might  flow  from  his 
leaving  that  detachment  beyond  supporting  distance.  This  uneasiness  General 
Greene  had,  recently,  by  a  measure  of  his,  much  irritated.  There  was  at 
this  time,  as  has  been  seen,  an  army  of  observation  in  the  Jerseys,  which 
General  Greene  had  now  ordered  up  to  Fort  Lee,  and  he  seriously  meditated 
a  diversion,  if  not  a  serious  attempt  against  New  York,  in  the  event  of  a  for 
ward  movement  of  Howe's  to  cut  off  General  Washington  from  the  Highlands. 
General  Howe  saw  the  practicability  of  this,  and  checked  his  progress.  But 
to  have  withdrawn  the  garrison,  when  the  two  armies  were  thus  relatively 
situated,  would  have  left  him  at  liberty  to  press  upon  General  Washington,  and 
even  to  operate  with  the  garrison  of  New  York  up  the  Hudson ;  for  Greene 
was  cut  off  from  crossing,  by  the  British  shipping,  every  where  below  die  pass 
which  Fort  Washington  commanded. 

This  state  of  things,  it  will  be  observed,  continued  until  the  13th  of  Novem 
ber,  when  the  army  made  good  its  passage.  And  why,  it  will  be  asked,  was 
not  the  garrison  removed  between  that  and  the  day  of  the  attack  ? 

To  this  we  are  not  called  upon,  nor  competent  to  give  an  answer.  On  that 
day  the  commander  in  chief  arrived  at  Fort  Lee,*  and  his  dispatches  of  the 
14th  and  15th,  dated  at  General  Greene's  head-quarters,  show  that  he  was 
present  to  direct  and  order  such  measures  as  he  deemed  advisable.  The  letter 
of  the  8th,  under  which  alone  General  Greene  acquired  any  control  over  the 
commander  at  Fort  Washington,  expressly  delegates  that  authority  to  him 
because  -he  was  personally  present;  and  both  expressly  and  impliedly,  that 
authority  ceased  when  the  commander  in  chief  was  himself  present.  General 
Washington  mentions  in  his  letter  to  congress,  "  that  on  the  night  of  the  15th, 
he  had  partly  crossed  the  North  River,  on  his  way  to  Fort  Washington,  when 
he  met  Generals  Putnam  and  Greene  just  returning  from  thence,  who  informed 
him  tliat  the  troops  were  in  high  spirits,  and  would  make  a  good  defence ;  and 
it  being  late  at  night,  he  returned."  This  clearly  proves  his  presence  and 
agency  on  this  occasion,  and  at  a  time  when,  if  he  had  thought  a  retreat  neces 
sary  or  advisable,  it  was  yet  in  his  power  to  have  effected  it. 


*  Washington's  Letter  of  14th  November  1776- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  67 

•  "But,  in  die  practicability  of  defending  this  fort  at  that  time,  there  appears  CHAP. 
lo  have  been  litde  difference  of  opinion.  The  unhappy  event  has  had  the  ^~  ^^. 
usual  effect  of  an  unfortunate  issue,  to  elicit  many  severe  criticisms.  General 
Washington  left  die  post  tinder  the  protection  of  twelve  hundred  men;  General 
Greene,  on  the  former's  expressing  his  apprehensions  from  the  weakness  of  the 
garrison,,  increased  it  to  two  thousand.  If  this  measure  had  not  met  with  the 
entire  approbation  of  General  Washington,  or  if  he  had  entertained  any  seri 
ous  doubts  of  the  adequacy  of  the  garrison  to  defend  the  post,  or  of  the  policy 
of  retaining  it,  he  had  abundant  time  from  the  13th,  to  the  morning  of  the 
16th,  to  have  evacuated  it.  The  movement  might  have  cost  the  service  the 
sacrifice  of  one  company  of  artillerists,  left  to  man  the  guns  of  the  fort  and 
cover  the  transportation ;  but  probably  would  not  even  have  cost  that  loss. 
-Whedier,  in  fact,  2,000  men  could,  under  any  circumstances,  have  defended  a 
circuit  of  near  eight  miles,  accessible  at  many  points,  against  a  well-appointed 
army  of  15?000,  is  a  question  on  which  few  military  men,  it  is  presumed,  will 
differ  at  the  present  day.  Yet  we  find  the  biographer  of  Washington  main 
taining,  that  had  all  the  troops  in  the  garrison  acted  on  this  day  with  the  bra 
very  of  the  Marylanders,  the  enemy  might  have  been  repulsed.* 

Severely  as  diis  effort  to  maintain  these  posts  has  been  animadverted  upon 
by  General  Lee  and  others,  there  is  much,  very  much  to  be  said  in  palliation 
.  of  the  error.  The  command  of  the  North  River  was  certainly  an  important 
object.  The  command  of  its  banks  was  identified  with  a  communication  with 
the  country  that  furnished  that  subsistence  without  which  the  army  must  have 
disbanded.  To  maintain  the  command  of  it  at  the  lowest  point  possible, 
was  an  interesting  object,  for  it  checked  the  advance  of  the  enemy  towards  the 
seat  of  government.  Hence,  when  beaten  from  Forts  Washington  and  Lee, 
•  a  stand  was  successively  made  at  the  next  defensible  passes,  to  wit,  Stoney 
Point,  Fort  Montgomery,  and  ascending  finally  to  West  Point.  At  the  time 
when  this  attack  was  made  upon  Fort  Washington,  an  additional  reason 
pressed  very  heavily  upon  the  minds  of  the  American  commanders.  The 
wasteful  and  short-sighted  policy  of  short  enlistments,  -was  about  to  prostrate 
diem  spiritless  and  sinewless  at  the  feet  of  their  adversary.  The  American 
army  was  soon  to  be  disbanded  and  renewed.  Every  thing  depended  upon 
public  opinion  and  public  feeling,  towards  obtaining  enlistments  and  drawing 
out  the  militia;  and  to  have  succeeded  in  making  a  stand  at  this  point,  would 
have  been  worth  an  army  to  the  commander  in  chief,  while  the  alternative 


•  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  2,  note  to  p.  517- 


68  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  was,  disastrous  and  abandoned  retreat.  Strong  wishes  generate  lively  hopesr 
v^-v^^,  and  the  firmest  heart,  or  most  unclouded  mind,  is  not  always  proof  against 
the  mistakes  they  generate. 

The  fall  of  Fort  Washington  with  2,000  troops,  1 ,200  of  whom  were  enlisted 
men,  and  some  of  his  very  best  troops,  together  with  so  large  a  stock  of  artil 
lery,  arms,  tents,  and  equipage,  made  it  necessary  for  Gen.  Washington  to  has 
ten  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Lee,  before  his  active  enemy  could  intercept  the 
retreat  of  the  garrison.  Orders  were  issued  accordingly,  and  preparations  com 
menced  with  all  the  zeal  and  rapidity  that  circumstances  would  admit.  But  the 
quarter-master's  department  was  in  a  miserable  state  of  derangement,  and  the 
means  of  transportation  could  not  be  procured.  The  enemy  were  already 
crossing  at  Dobbs*  Ferry,  to  hem  the  American  army  in  between  the  Hacken- 
sack  and  Hudson,  and  the  force  of  the  Americans  was  wholly  inadequate  to 
meet  them  in  the  field.  At  this  crisis,  General  Greene  could  only  retard  their 
approach  by  a  show  of  resistance,  whilst  the  men,  ammunition,  and  whatever  the 
means  of  transportation  were  adequate  to,  were  pushed  over  the  Hackensack. 
Much  credit  has  been  given  to  our  hero  by  historians  for  liis  conduct  on  this 
occasion;  but  after  making  every  exertion  that  could  be  made,  the  retreat 
was  attended  with  the  loss  of  many  articles  which,  at  that  time,  could  not  be 
replaced. 

General  Washington,  in  his  letter  of  November  16th,  1776,  writes,  "We 
lost  the  whole  of  the  cannon  that  was  at  the  fort,  (except  t\vo  12- pounders,) 
and  a  great  deal  of  baggage,  between  two  and  three  hundred  tents,  about  a 
thousand  barrels  of  flour,  and  otliT  stores  in  the  quarter-master's  depart 
ment.  This  loss  was  inevitable.  As  many  of  the  stores  had  been  removed, 
as  circumstances  and  time  would  admit  of.  The  ammunition  had  been  hap 
pily  got  away." 

With  the  "  fmta?  reliqiia"  of  his  destitute  army,  (scarce  3,000  strong,)  the 
commander  in  chief  sullenly  retreated  through  the  Jerseys,  until,  at  length, 
compelled  to  throw  the  Delaware  between  him  and  his  pursuing  enemy.  Sad 
and  portentous,  at  that  time,  was  the  gloom  that  hung  over  the  American 
people.  Fatal  might  it  have  proved  to  the  budding  hopes  of  independence, 
had  a  proclamation  of  general  amnesty,  and  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  Bri 
tish  laws,  been  announced  in  general  orders!  There  were  many  who  would 
have  peopled  the  wilderness,  rather  than  have  again  passed  under  the  Bri 
tish  government,  and  Washington  and  Greene  were  of  this  number.  But  it 
B  more  than  probable  the  people  generally  would  have  submitted.  A  pro 
tecting  providence  had  turned  die  enemy's  wisdom  into  foolishness;  for 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  69 

it  was  decreed,  that  the  American  people  should  be  rescued  from  their  domi-  CHAP. 

nion.  v^-v~w 

During  all  this  time,  our  hero  corresponds  with  his  friends  with  a  confidence 
and  cheerfulness  that  nothing  could  subdue.  He  consoles  himself  with  the 

o 

consideration,  that  congress  had  at  length  adopted  the  only  measures  that 
could  lead  to  success,  to  wit,  lengthened  enlistments,  &c.  and  though  the 
militia  were  beaten,  they  had  shown  that  they  could  fight ;  and  that  in  their 
very  misfortunes  the  American  army  was  acquiring  the  only  tiling  in  which 
they  were  deficient — military  knowledge  and  experience. 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  the-  26th  of  December  tluu  thp  sun  of  glory  rose 
once  more  upon  our  political  horizon.  The  ice  that  impeded  the  passage  of 
two  detachments  of  the  army,  that  were  destined  to  cross  between  Trenton 
and  Bordentown,  and  intercept  the  flying  enemy,  limited  the  success  of  the 
attack  on  the  former  place.  This  disappointment,  still  left  a  sufliciency  of 
embarrassments  to  check  the  exultation  of  the  American  people,  and  perhaps 
to  prevent  their  relapsing  into  the  follies  that  had  brought  them  to  die  verge  of 
the  precipice- 

But  the  surprize  of  Trenton  was  still  brilliant,  and  the  effect  decisive. 
About  a  thousand  of  the  Hessians  were  captured;  the  blow  was  followed  up 
by  a  masterly  manoeuvre  against  Princeton;  all  the  hopes  of  the  enemy  were 
at  once  blasted,  his  chain  of  posts  broken  up,  his  designs  against  Philadelphia 
frustrated,  and  with  an  army  infinitely  superior  to  his  adversary's,  Howe  was 
obliged  to  submit  to  be  shut  up  and  watched  during  the  winter  of  1 776-77. 

The  most  decisive  victory  gained  by  Washington  in  the  field  by  the  prowess 
of  his  troops,  could  not  have  operated  upon  the  American  people  with  half  the 
effect  of  this  brilliant  cov.p  (fa  main.  They  never  doubted  the  courage,  or  the 
worth  of  their  commanders,  but  now  they  found  them  in  stratagems  of  war, 
an  overmatch  for  the  boasted  veterans  of  the  mother  country;  and  the  Hes 
sians  too,  who  had  been  boasted  of  as  the  flower  of  the  army,  were  the  troops 
who  had  been  defeated  and  captured.  The  effect  pervaded  the  whole  country 
with  electrical  velocity,  and  from  that  day  the  independence  of  America  was 
no  longer  problematical. 

On  die  night  of  the  25th,  Greene  was  entrusted  with  the  command  of  the 
left  wing,  accompanied  by  Washington  in  person.  Sullivan,  who  was  senior 
in  command,  led  the  right.  The  left  division,  it  is  well  known,  was  the  first 
which  reached  the  town,  and  having  seized  the  enemy's  artillery,  cut  off  their 
retreat  to  Princefon.  The  arrival  of  the  other  a  few  minutes  after,  opened 
their  eyes  to  the  folly  of  rc-htance,  and  they  laid  down  their  arms.  But  where 
every  man.  does  his  duty,  a  military  leader  in  a  subordinate  command  has 


70  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   little  opportunity  of  distinguishing  himself.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  through  all  the 
s^^v^x  vicissitudes  of  this  trying  winter,  Greene  followed  the  fortunes  of  Washington, 
proving  himself  the  able,  vigilant,  intelligent  commander,  the  animated  patriot, 
disinterested  friend,  and  judicious  counsellor. 

It  was  plainly  perceived,  that  whenever  die  just  claims  of  others  would  admit 
of  it,  the  commander  in  chief  was  fond  of  selecting  Greene  for  particular  ser 
vices.  And  unfortunately,  the  envious  began  about  this  time  to  look  with 
jealousy  upon  the  obvious  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  Washington.  Yet  the 
most  scrutinizing  could  not  assert  that  this  confidence  was  unmerited  or  mis 
applied  on  the  one  hand,  or  converted  to  improper  or  selfish  purposes  on  die 
other. 

The  head-quarters  of  the  American  army  during  tin's  winter  was  at  Morris- 
town.  Here,  with  a  body  of  troops  that  never  exceeded  one  thousand  regu 
lars,  often  not  half  that  number ;  and  militia  sufficient  to  make  up  a  total  of 
about  three  thousand ;  the  whole  wretchedly  deficient  in  munitions  of  war ; 
Washington,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  world,  managed  to  keep  in  check  the 
British  force,  near  25,000  men,  occupying  a  chain  of  posts  from  Brunswick, 
by  Amboy,  down  Staten  Island,  and  thus  keeping  up  the  communication  with 
New  York. 

1777  The  British  plan  of  the  campaign  of  1777,  was  to  get  possession  of  the 
southern  states  and  of  Philadelphia,  whilst  Burgoyne,  descending  from 
Canada,  should  reduce  the  country  lying  along  Lake  Champlain  and  the 
Hudson,  and  cut  off  the  communication  between  the  eastern  and  western 
states. 

The  glorious  clays  of  Bcnnington  and  Saratoga  put  an  end  to  Burgoyne's 
quixotic  expedition;  for  quixotic  it  most  certainly  merits  to  be  denominated, 
since,  had  he  succeeded  in  reaching  New  York,  it  would  have  exhibited  but 
'the  trace  of  the  keel  upon  the  ocean.  But  the  chances  against  his  success 
were  infinitely  more  than  he  had  calculated.  The  force  that  he  commanded 
must  soon  have  been  exhausted  by  detachments,  had  he  occupied  the  posts 
necesary  to  retain  possession  of  the  country  he  passed  over ;  and  without  occu 
pying  it,  no  end  was  to  be  answered  by  traversing  it.  Little  also  did  he  know 
of  the  character  of  the  people  whose  firesides  lie  was  invading;  circumstances, 
natural  and  moral,  combine  to  render  them  the  hardiest  yeomanry  of  the 
United  States;  and  perhaps  a  region  could  scarcely  have  been  selected,  in 
which  greater  unanimity  prevailed  in  the  American  cause,  than  among  the 
mountains  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  It  has  been  conjectured,  that 
when  Burgoyne  became  embarrassed,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  might  have  relieved 
him.  The  utmost  that  he  could  possibly  have  done,  would  have  been  to  save 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  71 

him  from  capture;  but  still  the  expedition  would  have  been  utterly  useless,  nay,   CHAP. 
highly  detrimental  to  the  royal  cause.     A  tardy,  and  it  would  seem,  vindictive  ^r^^^ 
diversion  was  attempted ;  but  it  was  probably  wise  in  Clinton  to  attempt  no 
more;  for,  with  the  militia  swarming  around  them,  it  would  have  been  difficult 
to  withdraw,  any  number  of  troops  that  could  have  been  brought  to  his  aid, 
consistent  with  the  security  of  New  York. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Washington  was  for  a  moment  an  idle  specta 
tor.  He  foresaw  that  the  country  from  Peekskill  northwardly  might  become  the 
scene  of  interesting  operations,  and  had  early  in  the  spring  dispatched  Greene 
and  Knox  to  explore  the  passes  in  the  Highlands,  and  prepare  to  intercept 
reinforcements,  or  embarrass  a  retreat.  The  militia  of  Connecticut  and  Mas 
sachusetts  were  at  hand  to  effect  this  service,  and  his  position  enabled  him  to  • 
operate  against  Howe's  posts,  from  Brunswick  to  New  York,  if  weakened  by 
detachments  to  the  Highlands;  or  to  throw  troops  across  the  North  River,  if  an 
opportunity  presented  itself  of  rendering  service  in  that  quarter. 

But  his  attention  was  soon  called  off  to  another  quarter.  The  designs  of 
the  enemy  were  now  developed  ;  for  the  efforts  of  Burgoyne  upon  Ticonde- 
roga  were  simultaneous  with  those  of  Howe  to  penetrate  through  New  Jersey 
to  Philadelphia. 

After  making  every  arrangement  that  his  resources  permitted,  to  enable 
Schuyler  to  meet  Burgoyne,  Washington's  own  immediate  care  was  to  coun 
teract  the  movements  of  Sir  William  Howe.  Notwithstanding  every  effort  that 
had  been  made  through  the  winter  to  enlist  troops,  the  continental  regiments 
were  still  miserably  deficient.  Sickness  and  discontent,  or  despondency,  are 
the  ordinary  attendants  upon  new  raised  troops.  In  this  instance,  these  casu 
alties  bore  with  discouraging  severity  upon  the  American  levies.  Sickness 
had  thinned  their  ranks  in  a  most  extraordinary  degree.  The  whole  had 
to  pass  through  inoculation  for  the  small-pox,  and  the  free  habl.s,  plentiful 
living,  and  comfortable  habitations  of  the  American,  in  private  life,  make  the 
discipline,  exposure,  and  restricted  diet  of  a  camp,  to  bear  with  peculiar  seve 
rity  upon  the  first  months  of  his  initiation  as  a  soldier. 

Yet,  with  an  army  still  far  inferior  in  number,  although  considerably  rein 
forced;  miserably  equipped,  and  mostly  undisciplined,  Washington  resolved  to 
oppose  his  enemy,  as  soon  as  the  latter  manifested  a  design  to  move  across  the 
Jerseys.  For  this  purpose,  he  had  removed  from  Morristown  to  Middlebrook, 
and  improved  its  natural  advantages  so  as  to  feel  secure  against  any  attempt 
to  carry  it. 

It  was  not  until  the  middle  of  June  that  Howe  marched  out  of  Brunswick. 
He  had  imagined  that  his  judicious  adversary,  elated  with  the  affair  of  Trenton, 


72  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  -would  leave  his  fastnesses,  and  meet  him  on  the  plain.     But  it  was  in  vain 
in. 

,that  he  offered  Washington  battle.     Though  never  deficient  in  enterprizc,  the 

American  commander  knc\v  it  to  be  the  chief  attribute  of  a  good  general,  to 
fight  when  he  pleased.  He  well  knew  that  Howe  would  not  proceed  on  to 
Philadelphia,  and  leave  the  American  army  in  liis  rear.  It  were  a  folly  .even 
to  gain  that  by  battle,  which  could  be  effected  without  the  sacrifice.  He, 
therefore,  remained  quiet  upon  his  hills;  and  Sir  William,  after  strutting  his 
hour  between  the  Raritan  and  Millstone,  re-entered  Brunswick,  and  com 
menced  a  retreat  to  New  York,  by  the  way  of  Am  boy.  As  soon  as  his  design 
became  manifest,  Washington  lost  no  time  in  preparing  to  annoy  his  retreat 
But,  it  may  have  been  a  feint;  his  circumstances  required  a  strict  adherence 
•  to  cautious  self-command  and  vigilance,  and  his  orders  were  given  accord 
ingly- 

The  command  of  a  strong  detachment  was  assigned  to  Greene,  with  orders 
to  hang  on  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  and  await  the  arrival  of  reinforcements ; 
then  to  embrace  the  first  opportunity  to  attack  him.  Messengers  were  dis 
patched  immediately  to  Sullivan  and  Maxwell,  to  march  with  all  expedition, 
and  co-operate  with  Greene  against  the  British  army  in  its  march  to  Amboy. 
But  fortune,  who  has  ever  delighted  to  teaze  and  mock  the  god  of  war,  had 
decreed  to  our  hero  another  serious  disappointment.  Sullivan,  either  from  the 
delays  of  the  messenger,  or  his  distance  from  the  scene  of  action,  could  not 
arrive  in  time,  and  the  messenger  dispatched  to  Maxwell,  deserted  or  was 
taken.  The  three  brigades  which  Greene  commanded  were  not  sufficient  to 
cope  with  the  rear  column  of  the  enemy,  and  the  British  army  made  good 
its  retreat  to  Staten  Island,  without  any  material  loss.  Sir  William  Howe's 
portable  bridge,  prepared  for  passing  the  Delaware,  expedited  his  return  across 
the  channel  that  divides  Staten  Island  from  the  main. 

To  reach  the  place  of  his  destination  by  water,  was  Sir  William  Howe's 
next  object;  and  accordingly,  about  the  middle  of  July,  the  British  fleet  sailed 
from  New  York,  having  on  board  a  well  appointed  and  highly  disciplined 
army  of  thirty-six  battalions,  estimated  at  18,000  strong,  including  a  powerful 
artillery,  a  regiment  of  horse,  and  the  provincial  corps  called  the  queen's 
rangers— a  corps  that  often  during  this  war  disgraced  the  British  arms  by 
their  licentiousness  and  barbarity.  Colonel  Delancy,  a  native  of  New  York, 
commanded  them. 

The  correspondence  about  this  time,  presents  a  curious  scene  of  anxiety  and 
perplexity  about  the  destination  of  the  British  fleet.  Washington  did  not 
doubt  that  it  was  Philadelphia,  and  every  preparation  was  made  for  marching 
to  its  defence;  but  it  might  have  been  a  feint,  and  the  enemy  returning  sud- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  73 

denly,  might  find  the  country  open  to  invasion,  if  the  American  troops  were  CHAP. 
immediately  marched  away.     The  British  commander,  on  this  occasion,  had  ^r^~^,> 
thought  prdper  to  throw  out  false  lights  to  mislead  his  adversary.     A  letter 
was  mysteriously  conveyed  to  General  Putnam,  informing  him  that  their  real 
destination  was  Boston;  a  rumour  was  industriously  circulated  in  New  York, 
that  they  aimed  a  blow  at  the  south ;  and  finally,  when  the  fleet  entered  the 
Delaware  on  the  30th  of  July,  and  sailed  again,  all  was  mystery  and  conjec 
ture. 

The  fact  was,  that  Howe  intended  originally  to  ascend  the  Delaware  to 
Philadelphia,  but  upon  entering  the  bay,  he  found  the  navigation  intricate,  and 
thought  from  information,  that  the  attempt  to  ascend  in  the  fleet  to  that  place 
would  be  so  hazardous,  that  he  resolved  to  land  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and  cross  the  isthmus  to  Philadelphia. 

He  accordingly  put  to  sea  again,  and  baffling  winds  detained  him  on  his 
voyage  such  an  unusual  time,  that  Washington  actually  concluded  he  had  gone 
against  Charleston.  As  it  was  impossible  to  march  to  the  defence  of  that 
place,  he  promptly  resolved  to  aim  a  blow  at  New  York,  and  had  already 
issued  orders  to  march  to  the  North  River,  when  every  doubt  was  dissipated 
by  the  arrival  of  the  British  fleet  off  Elk  River  in  the  Chesapeake. 

A  busy  scene  now  presented  itself  over  the  American  States.  Burgoyne  was 
to  be  opposed,  a  strong  and  well-appointed  army  under  Clinton  in  New  York, 
to  be  watched,  and  the  invasion  of  Howe  to  be  repelled.  The  mind  of  Wash 
ington  was  every  where,  and  all  that  his  feeble  means  permitted  was  promptly 
done.  Strong  reinforcements  were  dispatched  to  Gates.  Putnam  was  posted, 
with  an  army  of  observation,  on  the  Hudson,  and  the  commander  in  chief, 
with  the  elite  of  his  army,  marched  to  meet  Howe. 

The  division  that  Greene  commanded  was  composed  of  the  Virginia  bri 
gades  of  Muhlenberg  and  Weeden.  With  this  division  Washington  remained 
in  person ;  and  it  will  be  found,  by  reference  to  his  own  letters,  that  he  seldom 
separated  himself  from  Greene  in  die  hour  when  counsel  was  requisite.  This 
was  at  the  time  noticed  by  the  officers  under  his  command,  and  whilst  among 
the  just  and  sensible  it  increased  the  confidence  reposed  in  the  latter,  there 
were  too  many  who  were  disposed  to  cavil  at  it.  But  as  he  shared  the  labours 
and  enjoyed  the  unlimited  confidence  of  the  commander  in  chief,  so  it  is  no 
little  to  his  honour  that  he  participated  in  the  envy  or  jealousy  of  the  few 
unworthy  men  who  were  hostile  to  Washington.  It  was  about  this  time  that 
Con  way  was  intriguing  to  undermine  the  public  confidence  in  the  most  imma 
culate  of  public  servants. 

10 


74  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

Washington  had  halted  on  the  Delaware,  until  he  could  ascertain  the  real 
,  design  of  General  Howe.  The  position  was  favourable  to  watching  his 
movements,  and  to  ulterior  measures,  when  Sir.,  William's  real  destination 
should  be  developed. 

The  two  armies  came  in  sight  of  each  other  on  the  ridge  that  divides 
Christiana  Creek  from  the  Elk  River.  The  British  estimated  at  18,000 
strong,  and  the  American  numbering  15,000,  but  really  having  no  more  than 
11, 000  effective  men. 

General  Howe  manoeuvred  with  a  view  to  turn  the  rijrht  of  Washington, 

O  C  ' 

and  cut  him  off  from  his  communication  with  Philadelphia.  This  would  have 
thrown  him  between  the  British  army  and  the  fleet,  on  a  tongue  of  land, 
where  he  must  have  fallen,  or  fought  his  way  out  under  every  disadvantage. 

Washington  saw  and  eluded  the  artifice  by  retreating  across  the  Brandy- 
wine  Creek;  and,  throwing  up  some  slight  works  at  Chad's  Ford,  on  the  east 
bank  of  that  creek,  he  resolved  to  meet  and  fight  the  enemy  at  that  place. 
Howe,  who  was  equally  desirous  of  measuring  swords  with  his  adversary, 
approached  within  seven  miles  of  the  ford,  and  having  coolly  reconnoitred  the 
American  army,  offered  him  battle  on  the  llth  of  September. 

The  issue  of  this  day  was  also  unfavourable  to  the  American  commander. 
The  familiar  artifice  of  amusing  in  front,  whilst  manoeuvring  to  gain  an 
adversary's  rear,  was  destined  a  third  time  to  bailie  the  valour  of  the  Ameri 
can  army.  It  happened,  unfortunately,  that  about  six  miles  above  the  ford  at 
which  the  two  armies  were  facing  each  other,  the  creek  forked,  and  both  the 
streams  were  easily  fordable.  The  advance  of  the  whole  British  army  upon 
Chad's  Ford,  fixed  the  attention  of  the  American  commander  to  that  pass, 
and  an  animated  attack  by  a  strong  column  under  Knyphausen,  with  the 
skirmishing  of  parties  thrown  over  the  creek  by  the  American  commander, 
occupied  the  whole  American  army  at  that  point,  wrhilst  the  far  greater  part  of 
the  British  army  silently  filed  off  on  their  left  under  Cornwallis,  and  crossed 
the  creek  above  the  fork.  How  the  American  general  could  suffer  himself  to 
be  thus  deceived,  has  hitherto  been  unaccounted  for.  And  from  all  accounts 
hitherto  published,  it  would  appeal',  that  he  had  not  bestowed  proper  attention 
to  reconnoitre  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  and  guard  the  roads  by  which  his 
flank  might  be  approached.  But  it  was  not  so.  He  had  detached  Colonel 
Bland,  with  his  regiment  of  horse,  across  the  creek  for  this  express  purpose; 
but  by  some  unaccountable  fatality  or  neglect,  no  intelligence  of  this  move 
ment  of  the  enemy  had  reached  him,  until  they  were  already  crossing  the 
ford  above  him,  called  Jones'  Ford.  He  had  indeed  been  informer!,  that  a 
considerable  column  had  filed  off  from  the  enemy's  left,  and  had  adopted  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  75 

bold  resolution  to  cross  with  his  whole  army,  and  attack  the  force  opposed  to  CHAP. 
him.  The  vanguard,  of  the  two  columns  into  which  his  army  was  thrown  for  ^J^^. 
this  purpose  under  the  command  of  Sullivan  and  Greene,  had  already  entered 
the  creek,  when  counter  intelligence  was  communicated  to  General  Sullivan, 
and  he  made  a  halt  to  convey  the  information  to  the  commander  in  chief. 
This  produced  a  retrogade  movement,  and  in  the  event,  it  would  appear,  that 
the  falsehood  had  been  communicated  by  some  favouring  deity.  For  had  the 
attack  been  prosecuted,  Knyphausen  would,  no  doubt,  have  retired  fighting,  and 
the  stratagem  of  the  enemy  would  have  been  fatally  successful ;  for  the  British 
army  would  securely  have  gained  the  heights  in  the  American  rear,  and  cut 
them  off  from  their  magazines  and  from  retreat.  About  two  o'clock  intelli 
gence  was  received  of  die  enemy's  having  actually  gained  die  road  that  turned 
the  American  right,  and  led  directly  to  Philadelphia;  nor  was  it  then  commu 
nicated  by  any  of  the  American  reconnoitring  party,  but  by  a  zealous  volun 
teer,  who  had  very  correctly  concluded  that  the  enemy  had  stolen  a  march 
upon  the  American  commander,  and  who  for  this  patriotic  service,  was  actu 
ally  arrested  as  a  spy,  so  improbable  did  the  intelligence  appear  to  Sullivan. 

The  promptness  with  which  Washington  adapted  his  measures  to  this  sud 
den  and  unexpected  change  of  circumstances,  ought  to  have  acquired  him 
more  eclat  as  a  military  commander  than  has  been  allowed  him.  But  the  day 
terminated  in  defeat,  and  success  is  the  grand  criterion  by  which  military 
merit  is  estimated. 

Two  great  objects  were  now  to  be  kept  in  view.  The  advance  of  Corn- 
wallis  must  be  arrested,  and  the  division  under  Knyphausen  must  be  kept  in 
check,  since  by  crossing  at  Chad's  Ford  he  would  g-iin  the  rear  of  the  army 
when  engaged  with  Cornwallis.  All  this  was  promptly  provided  for.  Wayne 
with  his  brigade,  was  thrown  into  the  redoubt  that  commanded  the  ford,  and 
Greene,  with  the  brigades  of  Wcedcn  and  JMuhlenberg  acting  as  a  reserve,  was 
halted  in  the  rear  of  Wayne,  in  a  situation  from  which  he  could  readily  fly  to 
the  relief  of  either  of  the  parties  engaged ;  whilst  every  other  brigade  of 
which  the  army  consisted,  was  ordered  off  under  the  command  of  Sullivan, 
with  instructions  to  form  and  engage,  as  they  should  respectively  reach  the 
ground  on  which  they  were  to  be  drawn  up.  These  orders  were  obeyed  with 
alacrity,  and  the  ground  on  which  the  army  was  formed,  is  acknowledged  to 
have  been  judiciously  selected.  But  an  unfortunate  occurrence  happened  on 
this  occasion,  which  greatly  influenced  the  fortune  of  the  clay,  and  which 
ought  to  be  recorded  as  a  warning  to  those  who  are  too  fastidious  to  sacrifice 
mere  etiquette  to  substantial  service.  It  so  happened,  that  in  the  previous  dis 
positions  of  die  day,  the  division  of  Lord  Stirling  had  been  thrown  into  a 


76  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  position  which  brought  Iiim  nearer  to  the  enemy  than  the  division  of  Sullivan, 
honour  of  the  right  was  not  contested  with  Sullivan,  but  in  order  to  reach 
that  part  of  the  line,  it  was  necessary  that  his  division  should  change  positions 
with  that  of  Lord  Sterling;  and  in  marching  and  countermarching  to  gain 
this  empty  honour,  they  lost  perhaps  the  palpable  and  tangible  honour  of 
repelling  die  enemy.  Cormvallis  urged  the  attack  during  this  change  of  posi 
tion,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  every  historian  relates  that  the  attack  was 
made  before  the  American  line  was  completely  formed.  No  efficient  opposi 
tion  was  made;  the  army  was  supported  awhile  by  the  artillery,  but  was  soon 
thrown  into  confusion,  and  a  total  rout  ensued. 

As  soon  as  the  firing  commenced,  General  Washington  had  hastened  to  the 
scene  of  action,  leaving  Greene  in  command  at  the  ford.  At  the  same  signal 
also,  Knyphausen  recommenced  his  attack,  and  with  great  firmness  advanced 
to  force  the  passage  at  the  ford.  Greene  was  advancing  to  oppose  him,  whilst 
Wayne,  with  artillery  and  musketry,  was  dealing  death  through  his  ranks, 
when  the  former  received  an  order  from  the  commander  in  chief  to  hasten  to 
the  support  of  the  main  army. 

Never  was  an  order  obeyed  with  more  alacrity  and  dispatch.  The  distance 
WTas  at  least  four  miles,  yet  it  is  established  on  the  best  authority,  that  it  was 
made  good  in  forty-nine  minutes;  indeed,  the  men  moved  on  a  trot,  and  with 
an  ardour  that  scarcely  admitted  of  preserving  order.  Both  the  commander 
in  chief  and  General  Sullivan,  in  advancing  to  the  ground  first  occupied,  had 
noted  a  field  in  their  rear,  as  proper  for  a  second  position  in  the  event  of  their 
being  driven  from  the  first.  On  this  ground  Greene's  command  was  met  by 
an  order  from  General  Washington,  delivered  by  his  aid  Colonel  Pinckney, 
(now  the  venerable  patriot,  Major  General  Pinckney,)  to  occupy  it,  and 
cover  the  retreat  of  the  main  army.  This  was  immediately  complied  with, 
and  Weeden  was  halted  here,  while  Muhlcnberg,  attended  by  Greene  in 
person,  passed  on  to  Weeden's  right,  and  met  the  enemy  at  the  road.  Both 
brigades  here  exhibited  that  firmness  and  precision  .of  movement  which  drew 
forth  the  admiration  of  the  enemy,  whilst  it  checked  their  advance  in  the 
career  of  victory. 

These  two  checks  effectually  stopped  the  progress  of  the  enemy,  and 
covered  the  retreat  of  the  flying  army.  Wecdcn,  when  he  could  no  longer 
Sustain  the  attack  of  the  whole  right  of  the  enemy,  retreated  in  good  order  to 
the  protection  of  the  other  brigade ;  and  Greene  drew  off  the  whole  in  order, 
in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  and  covered  also  the  retreating  brigade  of  Wayne, 
who,  after  a  brave  resistance,  had  been  obliged  to  yield  to  the  very  great 
superiority  of  Knyphausen.  Vet,  had  not  the  night  fortunately  closed  in  upon 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  77 

this  bloody  and  unfortunate  day  before  Knyphauscn  could  effect  a  junction   CHAP. 
with  Cornwallis,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  little  band  which  still  main-  ^^^^ 
tained  the  conflict,  would  much  longer  have  been  kept  together. 

Considering  the  sharpness  of  the  fighting  whilst  it  lasted,  the  length  of  time 
and  number  of  men  engaged,  and  the  general  rout  which  ensued,  the  loss  of 
the  American  army  was  surprisingly  small,  and  all  agree  in  attributing  it  to 
the  firm  and  active  movements  of  the  reserve.  A  Virginia  regiment  under 
Stevens,  and  another  under  Stuart,  had  acted  the  most  conspicuous  part. 

A  tale  has  been  made  up,  of  an  occurrence  after  this  battle  between  Wash 
ington  and  Greene,  in  which  there  is  no  truth  whatever  that  we  can  find.  It 
is  said,  that  something  like  altercation  took  place  between  Greene  and  his 
commander,  because  the  latter  had  omitted  to  notice  the  good  conduct  of 
Weeden's  brigade  in  general  orders.  That  General  Wecdcn  and  his  officers 
were  dissatisfied,  is  very  certain  ;  and  that  some  of  them  addressed  themselves 
to  Greene  on  the  occasion,  is  also  true;  but  he  declined  remonstrating  with 
the  commander  in  chief,  and  correctly  replied,  "  Our  general  has  enough  to 
distress  him ;  let  us  not  add  to  his  perplexities.  The  whole  army  admits  the 
services  you  rendered,  let  us  rest  satisfied  with  the  consciousness  of  it." 

It  is  also  true,  that  the  opinion  of  the  army  was,  that  the  general's  reason  for 
not  distinguishing  Greene  and  his  command  in  general  orders  was,  that  he 
knew  he  could  confide  in  their  good  sense  to  do  justice  to  his  motives,  and 
would  submit  to  the  sacrifice,  rather  thaii  add  to  the  mortification  of  their 
fellow  soldiers  from  their  recent  defeat.  How  could  the  commander  in  chief 
bave  applauded  the  one  division  without  obliquely,  if  not  directly  censuring 
the  rest?  And  the  common  interest  required  that  an  effort  should  be  made  to 
keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  raw,  half-disciplined  troops  of  which  the  army  chiefly 
consisted,  and  to  spare  the  sensibility  of  as  brave  and  respectable  a  body  of 
officers,  as  ever  were  drawn  together  under  any  commander,  and  who  were 
now  writhing  under  the  mortification  of  their  recent  defeat.  Greene  well 
understood  the  feelings  and  reasoning  of  Washington  on  the  subject,  and 
needed  no  explanation  of  the  grounds  of  his  conduct.  The  writer  who  could 
charge  him  with  sharply  remonstrating  with  Washington  on  that  occasion^ 
little  understood  the  delicacy  of  his  own  feelings,  or  the  respect  he  entertained 
for  those  of  his  commander  and  his  brother  officers.  Nor  is  it  by  any  means 
true,  that  General  Weeden  was  dissatisfied  with  Greene  on  this  occasion,  for 
not  pressing  the  subject  on  the  commander  in  chief.  His  retiring,  shortly  after 
this  affair,  favoured  this  story;  but  it  was  altogether  from  dissatisfaction  with 
congress  on  a  question  of  rank,  in  which  he  thong/it  his  jn.st  claims  had  been 
pretermitted ;  and  his  long  and  affectionate  correspondence  with  Greene,  evea 


rg  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  to  the  time  of  his  death,  proves  a  respect  and  regard  amounting  to  enthusiasm. 
^-v^,  He  afterwards  returned  into  service,  under  circumstances  which  removed  the 
subjects  of  his  complaint;  and  was  in  command  under  La  Fayette  when  he 
opposed  the  British  army  in  Virginia. 

Neither  is  it  true,  that  Greene  remonstrated  against  the  choice  of  the  ground 
on  which  the  battle  w  as  fought,  at  the  time  the  army  was  drawn  up  for  action. 
He  was  with  his  own  division  acting  as  the  reserve,  and  could  know  nothing 
about  the  ground  chosen  by  Sullivan;  and  as  to  the  position  generally,  it  is 
acknowledged  on  all  hands  to  have  been  judiciously  chosen.  All  the  disad 
vantages  under  which  the  American  army  fought,  and  possibly  the  fate  of  the 
day,  are  to  be  attributed  to  the  want  of  early  and  correct  intelligence.  Wash 
ington  expected  to  meet  the  enemy  at  Chad's  Ford,  and  had  he  known  of  their 
movement  up  the  stream  on  the  west  side,  he  could  have  made  a  correspondent 
movement  on  the  east  side,  and  at  Jones'  Ford  have  met  diem  under  every 
advantage  that  was  presented  by  Chad's  Ford.  Why  proper  videttes  and 
reconnoitring  parties  were  not  sent  out  by  Colonel  Bland,  on  die  road  leading 
to  die  upper  ford,  and  early  intelligence  obtained  and  forwarded,  never  has 
been,  and  probably  never  will  be  explained. 

Chester  had  been  fixed  upon  as  the  rendezvous  of  the  army,  and  here  the 
general  was  agreeably  surprised  to  find  his  loss  comparatively  small,  and  his 
men  in  unexpected  good  spirits.  The  truth  is,  there  were  not  in  the  army  five 
hundred  men  who  had  ever  been  in  battle  before.  And  the  good  conduct  of 
some  of  the  corps  had  set  an  example,  and  given  a  specimen  of  what  could  be 
effected  by  men  who  were  cool  and  firm,  which  inspired  a  hope  and  confidence 
in  their  own  future  efforts  when  better  disciplined.  The  artillery  had  behaved 
admirably,  and  done  great  execution;  and  the  high  eclat  acquired  by  some  of 
the  regiments  who  composed  the  reserve,  excited  a  promising  emulation. 

Washington  prepared  again  to  give  his  enemy  battle.  But  with  an  army 
inferior  in  number,  deficient  in  cavalry  and  artillery,  and  dispirited  by  defeat, 
he  could  not  venture  on  an  engagement  except  under  advantages  which  his 
prudent  adversary  was  resolved  not  to  afford  him.  On  die  16th  of  September, 
in  die  neighbourhood  of  Goshen,  the  two  armies  again  approached  each  other 
with  intention  to  risk  another  battle.  A  deluge  of  rain  separated  them,  and 
so  damaged  the  arms  and  ammunition  of  the  Americans,  that  Washington 
was  compelled  for  the  present  to  decline  fighting,  and  to  give  up  die  hopes  of 
defending  Philadelphia. 

Congress  removed  to  Lancaster,  and  on  the  25th  of  September  Sir  William 
Howe  entered  Philadelphia.  The  public  stores  had  been  previously  removed, 
and  the  shipping  ordered  to  ascend  the  river.  Necessity  had  compelled  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  79 

commander  in  chief,  with  the  advice  of  the  state  and  general  authorities,  to   CHAP. 
exact  a  forced  loan  of  all  the  blankets  and  the  clothing  that  the  inhabitants  ^^^^^ 
could  well  spare  for  the  army.     A  supply  was  thus  procured,  which  relieved 
the  distresses  of  the  hospitals,  and  covered  a  proportion  of  the  troops  from  the 
cold  which  now  began  to  be  experienced. 

There  was  an  evil  prevailing  over  the  destinies  of  the  American  people  at 
this  time,  which  no  author  has  animadverted  upon  with  sufficient  severity. 
Congress  acted  the  aulic  council  over  the  conduct  of  die  army.  Hence  the 
enormous  and  fruitless  efforts  for  the  defence  of  Philadelphia,  a  place  of  little  • 
importance  in  a  military  view,  open  on  all  sides,  and  not  necessarily  com 
manding  any  great  extent  of  country.  Whether  the  withdrawing  cf  Wash 
ington,  at  this  time,  from  the  designs  conceived  against  New  York,  was  not 
productive  of  the  most  injurious  consequences  to  the  service,  must  ever  remain 
at  least  problematical.  Had  the  whole  American  force  been  directed  to  that 
object  at  the  time  of  Howe's  landing  in  Maryland,  it  is  probable,  when  com 
bined  with  the  increasing  embarrassments  of  Burgoyne,  that  he  would  have 
returned  to  the  defence  of  his  grand  depot,  the  moment  it  was  ascertained  that 
his  advance  upon  Philadelphia  could  not  withdraw  Washington  from  his 
designs  on  New  York.  Had  that  place  fallen  before  he  could  relieve  it,  no 
thing  would  have  remained  for  him  to  do  but  to  seek  safety  in  his  fleet.  But 
the  resolves  of  congress  and  public  opinion,  which  even  Washington  h?.J  not 
then  learned  to  resist,  drew  him  to  the  defence  of  Philadelphia;  and  in  pursuit 
of  tliis  object,  he  effected  little  more  than  to  exhibit  new  proofs  of  his  own 
zeal  and  resources,  and  of  his  unconquerable  attachment  to  the  cause  he  had 
espoused. 


BO  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


IV. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


Affair  of  Germantown.  Impressments.  Manoeuvring  with  the  enemy.  Cone- 
spondence.  Made  quarter-master-general.  Retreat  of  General  Clinton  from 
Philadelphia.  Battle  of  Monmouth. 


CHAP.  AFTER  the  battle  of  Brandywine,  General  Howe  hastened  to  move  his  fleet 
,  from  the  Chesapeake,  and  dispose  of  it  so  as  so  co-operate  in  an  effort  to  force 
a  passage  up  to  Philadelphia.  Great  pains  and  expense  had  been  bestowed 
by  the  Americans  in  erecting  fortifications  and  other  obstructions,  so  as  to 
prevent  the  British  fleet  from  ascending  that  river.  The  influence  of  Phila 
delphia  upon  the  deliberations  of  congress  had  been  actively  and  successfully 
exerted  for  that  purpose,  and  much  blood  and  treasure  was  expended  on  the 
one  side  in  defending,  and  on  the  other,  in  reducing  the  forts  called  Mud  Fort, 
and  Fort  Mifflin. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  British  and  American  armies  had  encamped,  the 
former  at  the  village  of  Germantown,  the  latter  about  sixteen  miles  in  advance 
of  it,  near  a  stream  called  Skippack  Creek.  This  brought  on  the  action  of 
Germantown,  an  affair  in  which  the  military  reputation  of  Washington  suf 
fered  much  more  than  he  merited,  and  in  which  the  most  unjust  and  un 
founded  censure  was  cast  upon  the  conduct  of  Greene. 

As  Howe's  fleet  could  not  pass  the  American  forts,  he  was  obliged  to  detach 
stron°-  convoys  to  secure  the  transportation  of  stores  and  provisions  by  land  to 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE  81 

Philadelphia.     He  had  recently  detached  a  force  of  near  3,000  men  for  this   CHAP. 
purpose,  and  Washington  having  been  joined  by  about  2,500  regulars,  drawn  v^v^x_/ 
partly  from  Virginia  and  partly  from  Peekskill,  it  was  resolved  in  a  council  of 
war,  to  make  a  dash  at  the  British  main  army  in  its  encampment. 

The  village  of  Germantown  is  about  six  miles  from  Philadelphia.  It  has 
extension  in  length  only ;  being  nothing  more  than  a  string  of  houses  at  short 
distances  from  each  other,  extending  for  near  two  miles  on  the  high  road,  and 
the  country  for  some  distance  on  both  sides,  divided  into  small  regular  inclo- 
sures,  each  secured  by  strong  post  and  rail  fences. 

From  the  post  occupied  by  the  American  army,  there  are  four  roads  which 
lead  towards  Philadelphia ;  the  shortest  and  most  westerly  is  called  the  Mana- 
tawny,  or  ridge  road ;  it  also  takes  the  name  of  Wissahiccon,  from  the  creek 
between  which  and  the  Schuylkill  lies  the  ridge  down  which  it  leads  to  Phila 
delphia.  This  creek  runs  between  Germantown  and  the  Schuylkill,  leaving 
Gennantown  to  die  east ;  and  crossing  the  ridge  road  a  little  below  the  centre 
of  the  town,  there  empties  itself  into  the  Schuylkill.  The  next  road  to  the 
east  of  the  ridge  road,  is  the  main  Germantown  road,  the  course  of  which  Is 
generally  north  and  south.  Next  to  the  east  of  the  last,  is  the  Limekiln  road, 
which  preserves  nearly  the  same  direction  until  it  approaches  the  town,  when 
it  turns  into  it  nearly  at  right  angles  with  the  main  road,  and  enters  at  the 
market-place.  The  fouth  is  the  York  road,  which  falls  into  the  main  road 
some  distance  below  the  town,  at  a  tavern  well  known  by  the  epithet  of  the 
Rising  Sun.  To  get  into  these  two  latter  -roads  from  the  place  where  the 
Americans  were  encamped,  you  have  to  deviate  some  distance  to  the  left  or 
eastward,  as  they  do  not  communicate  directly  between  the  village  and  the 
encampment  at  Skippack  Creek. 

The  armies  opposed  to  each  other  were  numerically  of  an  equal  force,  but 
in  point  of  quality  there  was  a  fearful  odds.  The  British  and  Hessians  were 
disciplined  veterans,  well  fed,  well  clothed,  flushed  with  victory,  and  com 
manded  by  officers  of  tried  skill  and  valour.  The  Americans  were  one  third 
jnilhia,  and  of  the  eight  thousand  continentals,  there  were  very  few  who  were 
not  undisciplined  recruits;  besides  which,  in  a  country  which  ought  to  have 
yielded  them  abundance,  they  were  almost  destitute  of  every  tiling,  even  the 
necessaries  of  life.  Under  these  circumstances,  Washington  had  nothing  to 
depend  upon  but  their  native  valour,  his  many  excellent  officers,  and  the  favour 
of  a  just  God. 

It  was  on  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  October  that  he  marched  to  surprise  the 
British  encampment.  His  army  was  divided  into  two  columns;  the  right, 
commanded  by  Sullivan,  and  consisting  of  Sullivan  and  Wayne's  divisions, 

11 


82  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   marched  by  the  main  Germanto\vn  road.     It  was  preceded  by  Conway's  bri- 
,  and  attended  by  the  commander  in  chief  in  person.     On  this  road  also 
marched  the  reserve,  consisting  of  three  brigades  under  Lord  Stirling.. 

The  left  column,  consisting  of  Greene's  and  Stevens'  divisions,  under  the 
command  of  General  Greene,  and  supported  by  General  M'Doughrs  brigade, 
was  ordered  to  proceed  by  the  Limekiln  road;  whilst  the  militia,  divided  into 
nearly  equal  parties,  were  destined  to  operate  upon  the  ridge  and  York  roads. 
General  Armstrong  led  the  column  which  proceeded  by  the  ridge  road,  and 
General  Smallwood  that  which  was  allotted  to  the  York  road.  » 

The  encampment  of  the  enemy  stretched  across  the  village,  at  right  angles 
with  it,  and  nearly  about  the  centre.  All  the  writers  who  have  given  a  rela 
tion  of  this  action  assert,  that  the  British  encampment  extended  from  the 
village  west  \vardly  to  the  Schuylkill ;  but  we  are  in  possession  of  the  sketch  of 
the  battle  and  encampment,  drawn  up  by  the  assistant  engineer  of  the  British 
army,  and  the  following  are  the  positions  assigned  to  it.  The  line  was  divided 
nearly  equally  by  the  village,  and  from  its  right,  strong  detachments  were 
posted  at  intervals  as  far  as  the  ridge  road.  The  German  chasseurs  were 
posted  to  watch  that  road,  which  at  this  place  approaches  very  near  to  the 
bank  of  the  Schuylkill.  In  advance  of  the  village,  on  the  Germantown  road, 
was  posted  a  battalion  of  light-infantry,  and  a  little  in  the  rear  of  them  and  to 
the  eastward  of  the  road,  Colonel  Musgrove  v\  as  posted  with  the  40th  regi 
ment.  A  battalion  of  light-infantry  w7as  also  advanced  upon  the  Limekiln 
road,  and  the  queen's  rangers  on  the  York  road,  whilst  the  1st  and  2d  batta 
lion  of  the  guards  watched  both,  from  two  convenient  points  occupied  by 
them  between  those  roads.  Thus  it  appears,  that  the  British  commander 
had  omitted  no  ordinary  precaution  in  posting  his  troops  for  the  purpose  of 
guarding  against  the  danger  of  surprise.  Nor  were  his  patrols  neglected,  and 
to  their  vigilance  it  will  be  seen,  is  to  be  attributed  probably,  the  failure  of  the 
attempt  of  the  American  commander;  whilst  a  corresponding  vigilance  in  the 
American  patrol  might  have  rendered  that  of  the  British  of  no  avail. 

All  the  writers  on  the  American  »var  seem  to  have  vied  with  each  other  in' 
•\vorking  up  this  battle  to  a  scene  of  the  most  abject  confusion.  Yet,  upon  the 
simplest  principles  the  whole  of  the  events  may  be  reduced  to  order,  and  every 
occurrence  rationally  accounted  for.  Each  of  the  contending  parties  was 
certainly  best  acquainted  with  his  own  movements,  whilst  the  obscurity  of  the 
night,  and  the  extraordinary  fog  which  prevailed  until  near  the  termination  of 
the  action,  rendered  it  impossible  to  discover  the  movements  cf  his  adversary. 
Giving  each,  then,  credit  for  correctness  with  regard  to  what  was  witiiiti  his 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE,  83 

own  knowledge,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  reconciling  every  seeming  iiieoiisis-   CHAP. 
tency.  •  v^-v-%^» 

The  Americans  are  not  a  little  at  a  loss  also,  to  account  for  some  events, 
merely  because  they  write  under  the  erroneous  impression  that  the  surprise 
was  complete.  Yet  the  British  assert,  and  on  this  point  their  assertion  is  not 
to  be  controverted,  that  their  patrols  had  given  them  an  hour's  notice  of  tin; 
approaching  attack.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  Americans  doubt 
this,  upon  the  supposition,  that  the  British  patrol  could  not  have  approached 
the  American  army  without  being  discovered  by  their  own.  But  it  is  a  melan 
choly  fact  of  which  few  were  informed,  that  the  celebrated  Pulaski,  who  com 
manded  the  patrol,  was  found  by  General  Washington  himself,  asleep  in  a 
farm  house.  Policy  only,  and  regard  to  the  rank  and  misfortunes  of  the 
offender  could  have  induced  the  general  to  suppress  the  fact.  Yet  to  this 
circu instance,  most  probably,  we  are  to  attribute  the  success  of  the  enemy's 
patrol  in  approaching  near  enough  to  discover  the  advance  of  the  American 
column. 

'  The  hour's  notice  thus  communicated,  was  well  improved  by  the  British 
commander.  The  troops  were  called  to  arms,  and  stood  in  readiness  to 
receive  the  Americans,  hoping  to  profit  by  their  surprise  when  meeting  a  vigi 
lant,  instead  of  a  supine  and  sleeping  enemy.  The  British  commander  appears- 
to  have  been  at  first  in  doubt,  whether  the  attack  in  his  front  may  not  have 
been  intended  as  a  feint,  whilst  the  principal  attack  was  to  be  made  by  the 
ridge  road,  which  would  have  infallibly  turned  his  left  and  gained  his  rear; 
for  his  first  step  was  to  detach  a  strong  reinforcement  to  support  the  chasseurs 
on  that  road.  "Why  the  American  general  did  not  adopt  that  measure,  it  is  in 
vain,  at  this  distant  day,  to  inquire;  unfortunately,  the  militia  who  marched 
to  the  attack  on  that  road,  soon  left  this  reinforcement  at  liberty  to  join  the  left 
win0'  of  the  British,  at  a  very  critical  point  of  time.  They  scarcely  looked 
their  enemy  in  the  face,  or,  as  the  British  relate  it,  only  amused  the  chasseurs 
during  the  action.  The  few  of  their  light  troops  acted  better.  They  crossed 
the  creek,  and  moved  up  to  join  the  American  right.  The  party  which 
advanced  by  the  York  road,  did  little  more  than  that  under  Armstrong. 

On  the  advance  of  Sullivan's  column,  the  battalion  of  British  li^ht  infantry 
delivered  their  fire  and  retired  before  the  bayonets  of  Conway's  brigade;  tin's 
was  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Colonel  Musgrove  then  struck  into 
the  Germantown  road  to  support  them;  but  feeling  the  pressure  of  Sullivan's 
whole  column  upon  him,  he  perceived  he  must  retire,  and  by  one  of  those 
rapid  conclusions  which  genius  only  can  attain  to,  he  adopted  the  bold  resolu 
tion  of  throwing  himself  into  a  strong  stone  house,  owned  by  a  Mr.  Che\v, 


84  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  and  which  stood  at  the  head  of  the  village  directly  in  the  rout  of  the  American 

v^-v-x.-'  army,  a  hundred  yards  eastward  of  the  road.     Six  companies  of  his  command 

were  all  that  could  be  advantageously  employed  from   the  windows  of  this 

house,  and  the  rest,  with  the  light  infantry,  retired  to  join  the  main  army. 

This  was  a  gallant  measure,  and  bravely  persisted  in. 

The  detention  at  this  house  is  generally  assigned,  by  the  American  writers, 
as  the  cause  of  the  failure  of  this  enterprize.  And  General  Washington,  who 
was  there  in  person,  has  been  ridiculed  by  some,  and  censured  by  many,  for 
having  halted  before  it.  That  it  was  a  principal  cause  of  producing  an  unfa 
vourable  issue,  is  unquestionable;  but  there  were  other  causes  conspiring, 
some  of  which  were  indistinctly  known  at  the  time  and  others  not  duly  appre 
ciated.  The  enemies  of  General  Washington  also,  who  unfortunately  at  that 
time  were  in  the  zenith  of  their  influence,  and  active  in  their  intrigues,  had 
the  art  to  give  a  turn  to  the  affair  wliich  did  not  present  his  conduct  in  its 
proper  light.  Nay,  it  would  not  be  unreasonable  to  charge  one  of  them  with 
treachery,  for  it  is  an  established  fact  that  General  Conway  had  privately  left 
his  brigade  in  the  height  of  the  action,  and  refused  to  join  it,  though  pressed 
by  two  of  General  Washington's  aids  to  do  so.  That  he  was  then  intriguing 
against  General  Washington,  is  also  established ;  and  it  may  not  have  been 
consistent  with  his  views,  that  the  reputation  of  the  commander  in  chief 
should  be  confirmed  by  a  brilliant  coup  de  main  at  this  time.  His  personal 
courage  alone  was  brought  into  suspicion,  but  a  much  more  probable  cause 
was  assigned  when  it  wa  sascertained  that  in  writing  and  conversation  he  was 
then  actually  endeavouring  to  undermine  General  Washington's  reputation. 

It  is  true,  that  on  reaching  Che\v's  house  Sullivan's  column  was  halted ;  that 
General  Washington  rode  up,  and  paused  a  few-  minutes  to  observe  the  effect 
of  General  Knox's  bullets  upon  its  massy  walls ;  that  during  this  time,  some 
very  precious  minutes  were  lost;  but  by  no  means  as  many  as  are  generally 
supposed.  It  was  not  that  he  was  under  the  antiquated  error  which  required 
that  a  fortified  enemy  should  not  be  left  in  die  rear,  but  it  was  under  the  con 
sciousness  of  the  inestimable  importance  of  every  minute,  that  he  thus  acted. 
Filing  off  to  the  right  and  left,  to  avoid  the  murderous  fire  from  the  house, 
must  occasion  a  great  waste  of  time,  whilst  it  divided  his  line  and  left  an 
opening  that  the  enemy,  then  actually  forming  under  cover  of  the  house,  might 
take  advantage  of.  It  was  the  hope  that  the  well-directed  fire  of  Knox  would 
speedily  bring  the  contest  to  a  close,  that  induced  him  to  submit  to  the  delay. 
And  the  hope  was  a  rational  one,  for  the  impenetrable  thickness  of  the  walls 
could  only  be  ascertained  by  experiment.  Yet  a  very  few  minutes  elapsed 
before  he  issued  his  orders  to  leave  a  regiment  to  observe  the  party  in  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  85 

house,  whilst  the  army  inclined  to  the  right  and  left  to  avoid  it.  But  now  CHAP. 
another  and  more  serious  difficulty  presented  itself.  The  left  wing  of  the  ^^^^ 
British  army  had  advanced  as  soon  as  the  firing  on  the  road  commenced,  and 
the  whole  line  was  drawn-  up,  extending  from  the  Gerraantown  road  to  the 
Limekiln  road,  and  crossing  their  line  of  encampment  on  the  right,  so  as  to 
meet  the  attack  of  both  the  American  columns.  This  required  a  new  dispo 
sition,  and  Sullivan's  column  was  displayed,  one  division  to  the  east,  the  other 
to  the  left  of  the  road,  while  the  reserve  under  Lord  Stirling  was  ordered  up 
to  cover  his  right.  This  movement  consumed  the  greatest  part  of  the  time 
spent  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Chew's  house ;  and  when  the  army  was 
moved  forward  to  action,  another  very  serious  cause  of  delay  presented  itself. 
There  was  no  moving  without  clearing  a  passage  through  the  post  and  rail 
fences  for  the  artillery  and  the  horses  of  the  officers.  This  was  a  most  embar 
rassing  circumstance,  and  could  only  be  overcome  by  pulling  up  the  posts  and 
prostrating  the  fences.  Whilst  one  part  of  the  army  was  engaged  in  this  work, 
the  other  was,  to  little  effect,  expending  their  ammunition ;  so  that  before  the 
retreat  commenced,  although  the  army  had  been  furnished  with  sixty  rounds, 
the  cartouch-boxes  of  this  column  were  generally  empty. 

We  will  now  pursue  the  progress  of  the  other  column.  This  was  much 
influenced  by  the  occurrences  which  happened  on  the  right.  Having  reached 
the  ground  on  which  the  British  light-infantry  were  posted,  the  latter  were 
soon  obliged  to  retreat;  but  they  preserved  their  order,  notwithstanding  they 
were  vigorously  pressed  by  the  American  light  troops,  and  galled  by  their 
artillery.  The  day  was  now  breaking,  but  no  object  was  visible  at  the  dis 
tance  of  thirty  yards.  During  the  whole  action,  the  fire  of  the  troops  on  both 
sides  was  directed  by  the  flash  of  each  other's  guns ;  for  the  morning  was  so 
still  that  the  smoke  rested  over  their  heads  in  clouds,  or  mingled  with  and 
darkened  the  fog.  On  arriving  at  the  ground  directly  east  of  Chew's  house, 
the  attention  of  Greene  was  rivetted  by  the  active  firing  kept  up  in  that  quar 
ter,  and  as  his  rout  was  remote  from  the  village,  he  very  naturally  concluded 
that  the  other  column  had  met  and  engaged  the  enemy.  It  became  then 
necessary  to  halt,  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy,  and  finally  to  display  and  prepare 
to  meet  him  also.  In  the  original  disposition  of  the  American  force,  it  was 
contemplated  that  Sullivan  should  meet  and  fight  that  part  of  the  enemy's 
force  which  was  encamped  to  the  west  of  the  village,  and  Greene  that  part 
which  lay  to  the  east.*  Which  would  have  made  it  necessary  that  Sullivan 


Marshall. 


86  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  should  display  to  the  right  of  his  rout,  and  Greene  across  the  Limekiln  road. 
V^^>to/But  when  an  unexpected  state  of  things,  (the  position  in  which  the  enemy  was 
forming,)  made  it  necessary  to  throw  one  half  of  Sullivan's  column  on  the  same 
side  of  the  village  with  Greene's,  the  right  of  the  latter  was  necessarily  thrown 
into  the  rear  of  Sullivan's  left;  and  in  the  obscurity  of  the  morning,  having 
no  expectation  of  seeing  any  one  but  an  enemy  in  front,  the  rear  line,  com 
posed  of  Stephen's  division,  is  said  to  have  fired  on  the  front,  under  Wayne, 
who  commanded  Sullivan's  left.  The  front,  of  course,  supposing  itself  be 
tween  two  fires,  was  thrown  into  confusion.  Greene,  whose  division  was  on 
the  left  of  the  whole,  and  who,  upon  the  line's  being  formed,  commanded  the 
American  left,  pressed  on  his  men  to  find  their  enemy,  who,  from  the  direction 
of  his  line  of  march,  was  considerably  in  advance,  and  from  the  darkness  of 
the  morning  could  only  be  discerned  by  the  fire,  now  opened  upon  the  left 
wing  of  Sullivan's  column.  General  Stephens'  division  embarrassed  with  the 
left  of  Sullivan's  column,  could  render  him  no  present  assistance,  and  their 
commander  was  unfortunately  in  a  situation  which  disabled  him  from  restoring 
things  to  order.  Such  was  the  darkness,  that  orders  could  not  be  conveved 
with  promptness  and  dispatch.  The  aids  in  vain  gallopped  about  the  fields  at 
every  instant  arrested  by  the  fences,  for  they  could  not  see  to  what  point 
to  direct  their  course.  The  increasing  employment  of  his  own  advancing 
division,  and  perhaps  a  secret  interest  in  its  reputation,  detained  Greene  near 
his  division,  which,  as  second  in  command  in  the  line,  was  his  appropriate 
post. 

Never  did  a  body  of  men  perform  their  duty  with  more  firmness  and  zeal 
than  the  American  left.  It  is  a  truth  which  defies  contradiction,  that  it  was  the 
only  part  of  the  American  army  that  had  the  good  fortune  to  effect  the  service 
allotted  it  that  day.  For  they  broke  the  enemy's  right,  drove  them  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet  through  their  encampment  into  the  village,  and  made  a  larcje 
number  of  prisoners.  But  finally  its  very  zca!  proved  fatal  to  a  considerable 
proportion  of  it;  for,  by  pressing  forward  in  the  pursuit,  while  Stephens  was 
embarrassed  and  detained,  its  right  flank  became  exposed  ;  and  two  regiments 
on  the  left  of  the  British  right  wing,  not  bcinu;  confronted  by  any  part  of  the 
American  force,  was  at  liberty  to  wheel  upon  the  left  of  Sullivan's  line.  This 
movement  was  conducted  by  General  Grant.  The  confusion  in  that  quarter 
soon  became  irretrievable,  and  General  Gray,  with  a  division  from  the  enemy's 
left,  was  thus  at  liberty  to  hasten  to  the  support  of  their  right  wing.  By  this 
time,  the  morning  had  cleared  sufficiently  to  discover  to  Greene  the  danger  of 
his  exposed  flank,  and  the  genrnil  rout  on  his  right.  The  order  was  received 
for  a  retreat,  and  he  soon  overtook  Stephens'  column,  which  had  suffered  but 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  87 

little,  and  was  enabled  to  support  a  countenance  that  covered  the  retreat  of  CHAP. 
the  American  army.  The  officers  who  were  at  this  time  near  the  person  of v-^v^w, 
General  Greene,  concur  in  asserting  that  he  pertinaciously  exposed  his  person 
to  the  very  last;  so  much  so,  that  some  have  ventured  to  express  an  opinion 
that  his  chagrin  at  having  victory  snatched  from  his  grasp  at  the  very  moment 
when,  from  every  appearance  ander  his  immediate  eye,  it  was  all  their  own, 
was  so  great  that  he  did  not  wish  to  survive  it.  But  there  was  another  cause 
to  which  it  was  more  justly  attributable;  this  was  his  affectionate  care  for 
every  officer  and  even*  man  in  his  immediate  division.  He  was  unwilling 
to  move  whilst  one  of  them  would  be  left  behind,  if  possible  to  avoid  it.  At 
this  time,  some  of  the  bravest  of  his  men  and  officers  had  penetrated  far  into 
the  enemy's  rear,  and  if  not  immediately  rescued,  they  must  be  made  prisoners. 
It  was  to  recover  these  that  he  lingered  on  the  field,  as  long  as  the  safety  of  his 
division  would  possibly  admit  of  it.  Notwithstanding  every  effort  to  with 
draw  them,  Colonel  Matthews,  who  commanded  one  of  his  regiments,  and 
who  had  made  so  many  prisoners  as  to  encumber  his  retreat,  was  surrounded 
and  captured.  All  the  American  prisoners  that  were  made  in  this  action, 
except  the  wounded,  were  made  in  this  quarter,  and  on  this  occasion. 

This  was  a  long  and  sharp  action ;  it  lasted  near  two  hours  and  a  half. 
The  bayonet  was  only  used  on  the  American  left,  for  the  enclosures  kept  the 
rest  of  the  combatants  apart.  AVayne  and  Sullivan  did  every  thing  that  men 
could  do,  but  the  obscurity  of  the  morning,  and  the  obstructions  that  embar 
rassed  them  baffled  their  efforts.  Had  there  been  sufficient  light  for  the  Ame 
ricans  to  discover  the  precise  manner  in  which  the  enemy  had  formed,  and  to 
have  adapted  their  own  movements  to  the  occasion,  the  wings  of  the  columns 
would  not  have  got  interlocked,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  result;  for 
there  was  a  spirit  and  emulation  displayed  by  every  regular  corps  in  the  action, 
from  which  the  most  happy  consequences  might  have  been  expected.  But  had 
the  enemy  retreated,  the  Americans  could  not  have  pursued  far,  as  Cornwallis, 
with  a  strong  reinforcement  of  grenadiers  and  dragoons,  arrived  near  the  close 
of  the  action,  and  in  time  to  join  in  the  pursuit.  But  the  pursuit  was  not 
pressed  very  long  nor  very  vigorously,  nor  attended  with  any  loss  on  the  side 
of  the  Americans;  for  the  artillerv  of  the  rear  division  often  warned  the 

J 

enemy  to  maintain  his  distance;  whilst  Colonel  Moyltm,  with  three  regiments 
of  horse,  steadily  guarded  the  flanks  of  the  retreating  army, 

The  artillery  was  all  saved,  even  to  a  piece  belonging  to  Greene's  column 
wliich  had  been  dismounted.  So  scrupulous  was  he  on  this  point,  that  he  had 
it  placed  in  a  waggon  and  brought  away;  a  conclusive  proof  both  that  the 


88  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  retreat  was  not  hurried,  and  that  he  retained  his  self-possession  in  the  midst  of 
greatest  dangers.    . 

But  a  more  striking  proof  was  exhibited  on  this  occasion  in  a  ludicrous 
incident  that  occurred  to  one  of  his  aids.  His  station  was  in  the  rear ;  cues 
and  curls  were  at  that  time  the  fashion  in  the  army.  Major  Burnet,  who  was 
riding  beside  him,  had  turned  his  head  to  observe  some  occurrence  behind  him, 
when  a  musket-ball  cut  away  his  cue,  and  it  fell  to  the  ground.  Greene  ob 
serving  it  called  out,  "  Burnet,  if  you  can  spare  time,  get  down  and  pick  up 
your  cue."  Burnet,  who  had  just  then  put  up  his  hand  to  observe  what  had 
happened  in  that  quarter,  in  turning  round  to  join  in  the  laugh,  saw  that  one 
of  the  general's  curls  had  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  a  similar  casualty.  He  coolly 
replied,  "  And  your  curl  at  the  same  time,  if  you  please,  general."  Greene 
laughed  and  moved  on,  but  without  mending  his  pace. 

In  this  action  many  brave  men  fell  on  both  sides.  The  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  was  about  equal,  probably  seven  or  eight  hundred ;  but  by  the  fall 
of  Matthew's  regiment,  the  British  acquired  400  prisoners,  and  among  them 
some  very  valuable  offices.  General  Agnew  on  the  British,  and  General  Nash 
on  the  American  side,  were  among  the  slain;  both  officers  in  high  estimation, 
and  greatly  regretted. 

General  Washington,  in  his  letter  to  congress  three  days  after  the  battle, 
writes  thus:  "It  is  with  much  chagrin  and  mortification  I  add,  that  every 
account  confirms  the  opinion  I  at  first  entertained,  that  our  troops  retreated  at 
the  instant  when  victory  was  declaring  in  our  favour.  The  tumult,  disorder, 
and  even  despair,  which  it  is  said  had  taken  place  in  the  British  army,  were 
scarcely  paralleled."  And  General  Greene  was  always  of  the  same  opinion. 
For,  the  reserve  of  three  brigades  under  Lord  Sterling  had  been  brought  up 
into  action  on  the  American  right,  and  the  left  flank  of  the  enemy  lay  entirely 
open  to  them.  Had  the  reserve  been  pressed  forward,  the  enemy's  left  wing 
must  have  retired,  and  this  would  have  given  time  for  the  broken  divisions  to 
rally,  whilst  it  found  employment  for  General  Grey,  whic  would  have  pre- 
vented  his  restoring  the  fortune  of  the  day  on  the  enemy's  right.  In  that 
quarter  the  work  ;f  ic  -ry  had  so  far  advanced,  that  nothing  was  wanting 
but  to  save  the  assailants  from  the  attack  of  a  new  and  unexpected  adversary. 
Had  the  fog  cleared  away  but  a  few  minutes  sooner,  it  is  to  be  presumed  this 
would  have  been  done.  But  such  was  its  extreme  density,  until  a  few  minutes 
before  the  retreat  became  general,  that  die  army  was  broken  and  scattered, 
before  General  Washington  knew  that  they  ha  •  paused.  The  hurrying  of  a 
field-piece  by  him,  with  the  horses  in  limber,  was  the  first  notice  he  had  of  the 
extent  of  his  misfortunes.  Colonel  Pinckney,  who  was  near  his  person,  was 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  69 

ordered  to  make  an  effort  to  halt  and  rally  the  men,  who  now  began  to  hurry  CHAP. 
by  in  groups ;  but  all  the  zeal  and  ardour  with  which  he  endeavoured  to  effect  s^-I^, 
it  were  in  vain.     The  men  showed  their  empty  cartouche-boxes  and  ran  on. 

Several  of  the  writers  on  the  American  war  present  a  scene  almost  ludicrous 
as  having  occurred  before  Chew's  house.  One  would  suppose,  that  General 
Washington  stood  almost  stupilied  on  the  occasion,  listening  with  deference  to 
every  babbler  who  chose  to  obtrude  his  opinions.  Even  field  officers  are  sup 
posed  to  have  forced  their  way  into  the  circle  of  his  legitimate  counsellors; 
and  the  opinion  of  some  stand  recorded  in  commemoration  of  their  correctness 
and  las  folly.  These  gentlemen  may  have  expressed  their  opinions,  but 
General  Wasliington  was  listening  to  the  counsels  of  his  own  mind  and  of  his 
general  officers.  And  as  has  been  before  observed,  an  anxiety  to  avoid  the  ne 
cessity  of  taking  a  large  circuit  to  attack  his  enemy,  then  but  a  little  distance  in 
front  and  actively  forming  under  cover  of  the  house,  was  the  real  cause  of  the 
halt,  whilst  Knox  tried  the  weight  of  his  metal  upon  it.  But  the  active  faction 
then  in  the  height  of  action,  in  a  great  measure  succeeded  in  fastening  on  the 
general  the  loss  of  the  battle,  whilst  iie  carried  on,  what  they  were  pleased 
to  call  this  wind-mill  attack  upon  Chew's  house.  Some  of  the  adherents  of 
that  faction  may  be  still  in  existence,  and  will  deny  this ;  but  all  his  aids  have 
not  yet  joined  him  in  another  world,  nor  are  there  wanting  those  who  will  be 
ready  to  render  his  memory  justice,  not  in  mercy,  but  in  love.  The  writer 
of  these  pages  will  again  venture  to  boast,  that  all  the  enemies  Greene  had, 
at  this  time,  were  among  those,  who  could  be  hostile  even  to  the  greatest  and 
best  of  men. 

Will  it  be  believed  that  they  could  have  found  any  thing  in  Greene's  conduct 
in  the  affair  just  related  to  charge  him,  not  only  with  neglect  of  duty,  but 
even  with  cowardice?  Yes,  and  the  name  of  Washington  was  cited  for 
authority. 

In  a  letter  to  congress,  written  the  day  after  the  battle,  5th  of  October  1777, 
are  contained  these  words:  "  I  cannot  enter  into  particulars  of  what  happened 
in  that  quarter,  [speaking  of  the  left  wing,]  as  I  am  not  yet  informed  of  them 
with  sufficient  certainty  and  precision."  This  passage,  which  is  accompanied 
by  one  passing  high  encomiums  on  the  conduct  of  his  right  wing,  has  been 
tortured  by  malice  into  an  indirect  censure  on  the  conduct  of  the  left.  Rut 
the  passage  admits  of  another  most  obvious  explanation ;  whether  we  refer  to 
facts  contained  in  the  letter,  or  to  others  that  are  extraneous.  That  passage  of 
the  letter  must  have  been  written  as  soon  as  he  had  regained  his  camp,  and, 
as  the  letter  declares,  he  had  not  then  received  Greene's  report  of  the  occur 
rences  on  his  left.  That  he  was  not  informed  of  those  occurrences  during  th^ 

12 


90  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CFUP.  action  is  obviously  accounted  for  by  the  obscurity  which  disabled  the  aids  from 
finding  the  station  of  the  commander  in  chief,  the  innumerable  fences  which 
almost  precluded  communication,  and  the  monopoly  of  their  attention  to  die 
important  object  of  endeavouring  to  extricate  Stephens'  brigade,  and  bring 
it  up  to  its  place  in  the  line.  The  erroneous  impression  relative  to  Greene's 
conduct  was  not  a  little  promoted  by  the  known  fact  that  two  regiments  of  the 
enemy  under  Grant  had  been  brought  to  act  on  the  left  flank  of  Sullivan's 
command ;  and  the  general  ignorance  with  regard  to  the  real  cause.  It  was 
known  that  they  ought  to  have  been  engaged  by  the  right  of  Greene's  com 
mand;  and  until  inquiry  was  made,  the  fault  was  thrown  upon  the  commander 
of  the  left  column.  But  upon  a  fair  estimate  of  circumstances,  how  stands 
the  question  with  regard  to  the  embarrassments  in  which  Stephens'  division 
was  involved  ?  In  displaying  so  as  to  extend  his  line  from  the  Limekiln  road 
to  the  village,  the  left  column  was  pursuing  the  original  order  of  attack.  But 
in  displaying  Wayne's  brigade  of  the  right  column,  from  the  village  towards 
the  Limekiln  road,  a  change  from  the  original  plan  of  attack  had  been  forced 
on  the  commander  in  chief,  by  the  movements  of  the  enemy  in  advancing  to 
the  head  of  the  village  and  forming  on  the  east  side  of  it.  Of  this  change  in 
the  order  of  attack  sufficient  notice  had  not  been  given,  to  arrest  the  execution 
of  die  original  order,  in  time  to  prevent  the  two  columns  from  getting  embar 
rassed  with  each  other.  Vet,  had  the  commander  of  the  division  which  be 
came  thus  embarrassed  with  the  left  of  Sullivan's  command,  not  unfortunately 
indulged  himself  that  morning  too  freely  with  his  canteen,  there  was  still  a  hope 
that  he  might  have  extricated  himself  from  this  situation,  and  filled  the  space 
left  in  the  American  line  by  the  absence  of  his  division.  To  censure  the  absent, 
the  dead,  or  the  unfortunate,  is  among  the  most  painful  of  all  necessities;  nor 
should  the  writer  of  these  pages  have  suffered  his  pen  to  revive  the  recollection 
of  it,  had  it  not  been  established  by  the  decision  of  a  court-martial,  which  has 
never  been  complained  of.  It  is  also  ordinarily  mentioned  as  among  the 
principal  causes  of  the  misfortunes  of  that  day,  since  it  wras  his  line  that  was 
charged  with  firing  on  Wayne's,  in  the  rear  of  which  it  was  thrown  in  moving 
to  die  right. 

Another  cause  which  favoured  the  propagation  of  an  opinion  unfavourable 
to  Greene,  in  the  affair  of  Gcrmantown,  was  his  not  entering  into  action  from 
a  half  to  three  quarters  of  an  hour  later  than  the  column  on  the  right.  Gene 
ral  Washington,  in  his  letter  to  congress,  says  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  Mr. 
Marshall,  half  an  hour,  and  some  others,  some  minutes  over  half  an  hour.  But 
no  one  has  paused  to  remark  that,  all  things  considered,  at  the  highest  compu 
tation,  it  was  much  less  time  than  ought  to  have  been  expected.  And  yet  it 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  .    9 

was  obviously  so.     For  it  must  be  recollected,  that  Greene  had  a  route  of  a  cfur. 

IV. 

mile  at  least  longer  to  perform  than  the  other  column,  to  reach  opposite  to  ^^ 
the  head  of  the  village,  where  the  right  column  had  engaged  the  enemy ;  and  . 
then  had  to  proceed  near  a  mile  further  to  reach  the  centre  of  the  village, 
where  die  enemy  was  drawn  up  which  he  had  to  engage.     Nor  was  the  pro 
gress  of  his  own  division  a  little  impeded  by  short  halts,  in  hopes  of  being 
joined  in  line  by  that  under  Stephens.     All  these  facts  considered,  he  must 
have  proceeded  with  more  than  ordinary  expedition  to  have  engaged  as  soon 
as  he  did. 

We  have  before  observed,  that  General  Stephen's  conduct  was  submitted 
to  the  investigation  of  a  court-martial.  In  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington  we 
find  this  notice  of  that  fact:  "Major  General  Stephens,  who  commanded  die 
right  of  the  left  wing,  was  cashiered  for  misconduct  on  the  retreat,  and  for 
intoxication.  No  inquiries  appear  to  have  been  made  into  the  conduct  of  other 
general  officers." 

The  known  candour  and  established  character  of  diat  author  will  not  for  a 
moment  admit  the  supposition,  that  he  intended  by  this  passage  obliquely  to 
intimate,  that  had  there  been  such  inquiries  made,  others  might  have  shared 
the  Su.me  fate.  His  intention  in  the  remark  must  certainly  have  been,  diat 
during  the  investigation  into  Stephens'  conduct,  so  severe  a  scrutiny  must  have 
been  made  into  the  conduct  of  die  commanders  of  every  other  corps,  that  no 
one  could  have  escaped  had  there  been  room  left  for  censure  or  suspicion. 
One  thing  is  very  certain,  that  Greene  could  not  have  suffered  by  the  investi 
gation,  since  he  not  only  maintained  his  previous  standing  in  the  confidence  of 
his  commander,  but  actually  rose  in  estimation.  And  one  of  his  particular 
friends  having  felt  some  uneasiness  on  the  publication  of  General  Washington's 
letter,  and  begged  of  him  to  say  whether  he  was  at  all  dissatisfied  with  the 
conduct  of  Greene,  he  magnanimously  replied,  "  No,  it  was  our  fault."*  Yet 
go  successful  were  his  enemies  in  propagating  their  construction  of  that  letter, 
that  one  of  die  British  writers,  in  his  account  of  diis  affair,  has  put  that  con 
struction  upon  it.  Yet  no  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  invariable  delicacy 
of  sentiment  and  conduct  of  the  commander  in  chief  towards  his  officers, 
would  have  hesitated  at  assigning  as  the  leading  cause  of  his  declining  in  that 
letter  to  remark  on  the  conduct  of  the  left  wing,  the  very  serious  charges 
which  had  been  made  against  General  Stephens,  and  on  which  he  was  unwil 
ling  to  animadvert,  whilst  it  was  uncertain  whether  he  was  in  fault  or  not. 


*  Governor  Read. 


92  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Finally,  it  appears  that  Stephens  was  acquitted  altogether  of  misconduct  in 
>^v^,  the  affair  of  die  embarrassment  produced  between  the  extremities  of  the  two 
*  lines,  and  his  sentence  was  alone  founded  on  his  being  intoxicated,  and  misbe 
having  on  the  retreat. 

ft  will  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  American  reader  to  peruse  the  following 
compliment  bestowed  by  a  British  pen,  upon  the  American  army  in  the  affair 
of  Germantown.  "  In  this  action,  the  Americans  acted  on  the  offensive,  and 
though  repulsed  .with  loss,  showed  themselves  a  formidable  adversary,  capable 
of  charging  with  resolution,  and  retreating  with  order.  The  hope,  therefore, 
entertained  from  the  effect  of  any  fair  action  with  them  as  decisive,  and  likely 
to  put  a  speedy  termination  to  the  war,  was  exceedingly  abated." 

The  enemy  did  not  remain  long,  after  this  affair,  in  their  encampment  at 
Germantown.  They  had  felt  too  sensibly  the  danger  of  being  near  to  their 
vigilant  and  enterprizing  enemy.  Retiring  into  Philadelphia,  Sir  William 
Howe  ordered  reinforcements  from  New  York,  and  directed  all  his  efforts  to 
opening  the  communication  with  his  fleet;  whilst  Washington  with  his  army 
lay  at  Whitemarsh,  watching  the  movements  of  the  enemy  at  the  distance  of 
fifteen  miles,  and  ready  to  pounce  upon  him,  should  he  lay  liimself  open  to- 
attack. 

At  length,  an  opportunity  presented  itself  which  he  thought  favourable  for 
enterprize,  and  he  hastened  to  embrace  it.  Cornwallis  was  detached  with  a 
command  of  3,000  men,  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  Jerseys,  by  crossing  from 
Chester  to  Billiugsport ;  with  the  combined  object  of  collecting  supplies  for 
the  array,  and  of  opening  the  navigation  of  the  Delaware  by  reducing  Fort 
Mercer.  That  place,  better  known  as  Red  Bank,  was  important  in  com- 
mandin0"  the  channel  of  the  Delaware,  and  had  become  identified  with  Ame- 

O 

rican  glory  by  the  gallantry  of  Colonel  Christopher  Greene,  and  the  death  of 
Colonel  Donop  and  repulse  of  the  Hessians.  An  effort  was  thought  advisable 
to  protect  it,  and  it  was  no  inconsiderable  object  to  keep  up  in  the  British  army 
the  state  of  distress  for  want  of  fuel  and  provisions,  to  which  the  vigilance 
and  advantageous  position  of  Washington  had  reduced  them. 

It  was  determined  in  council,  to  send  a  force  into  the  Jerseys  to  meet  and 
cn^a^e  the  British  detachment,  and  Greene  was  selected  for  the  command. 
But  to  use  Washington's  own  words,  "  they  were  so  rapid  in  their  advances, 
that  our  troops  could  not  form  a  junction  and  arrive  in  time  to  succour  the 
garrison."  It  was  still  an  important  object  to  restrain  Cornu  allis  from  col 
lecting  supplies.  And,  as  soon  as  Greene  could  form  a  junction  with  the  bri 
gades  of  Huntingdon  and  Varnum,  then  in  die  Jerseys,  he  marched  down  the 
kft  bank  of  die  river  widi  an  iutentiou  to  give  battle  to  die  enemy.  Unfortu- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

nately,  a  large  reinforcement  had  arrived  from  New  York  ;  which,  added  to   CHAP. 
the  force  detached  from  Philadelphia,  gave  Cornwallis  a  superiority  even  in  ^^^^ 
number.     In  quality  of  troops  it  was  very  great,  for  a  large  proportion  of 
Greene's  command  was  militia. 

However,  he  cautiously  hung  on  the  left  wing  of  his  superior  enemy,  until 
positive  orders  were  received  from  the  commander  in  chief  to  retire  and  join 
him.  His  conduct  on  this  occasion  has  acquired  for  him  the  following  just 
•eulogium  from  the  biographer  of  Washington:  "That  judicious  officer  feared 
less  the  reproach  of  avoiding  an  action,  than  the  just  censure  of  sacrificing  the 
real  interest  of  his  country." 

Indeed,  the  struggle  he  had  to  undergo  was,  one  of  the  most  trying  kind. 
The  Jersey  militia  under  his  command  looked  with  the  most  restless  impa 
tience  upon  the  marauding  parties  of  the  enemy,  plundering  their  granaries, 
and  driving  off  their  cattle  ;  and  the  strongest  expressions  of  the  wishes  of  the 
members  of  Congress  that  he  should  engage  the  enemy,  daily  assailed  him. 
Could  he  indeed  have  cut  off  the  party  under  Cornwallis,  the  best  conse 
quences  might  have  been  augured  from  it;  for  it  would  have  reduced  the  gar 
rison  of  Philadelphia  to  inertness,  if  not  to  absolute  distress.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  Greene  well  knew  how  fatal  the  destruction  of  his  command  might  have 
proved  to  the  safety  of  the  grand  army.  It  is  well  known,  that  his  inclina 
tions  commonly  led  him  to  fighting,  and  he  had  under  him  several  officers  who 
were  celebrated  for  the  same  propensity.  But  a  sense  of  duty,  and  a  just 
construction  of  his  orders,  prevailed,  and  he  acted  the  part  that  prudence  and 
firmness,  not  his  inclinations,  dictated. 

It  has  been  said  that,  "  General  Greene's  instructions,  though  not  peremp 
tory,  indicated  the  expectations  of  the  commander  in  chief  that  he  would  be  in 
a  condition  to  fight  Lord  Cornwallis."  * 

Let  the  commander  in  chief  speak  for  himself. 

In  a  letter  to  congress  of  the  23d  November  1777,  he  says,  "  General  Greene 
is  still  in  Jersey,  and  when  Glovers  brigade  joins  him,  if  an  attack  can  be  made 
on  Lord  Cornwallis  with  a  prospect  of  success,  I  am  persuaded  it  will  be 
done."  But  before  Glover's  brigade  had  effected  a  junction,  Cornwallis 
crossed  over  his  baggage  and  stores  to  Gloucester  Point,  and  indicated  an  inten 
tion  to  rejoin  Sir  William  Howe  in  Philadelphia.  Their  united  force  would 
have  put  it  in  the  power  of  Howe  to  attack  the  commander  in  chief  at  White- 


*  See  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  3,  p.  219. 


O  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CWAP.  marsh,  and  the  force  under  Greene  having  become  necessary  to  the  security  of 
main  army,  he  was  recalled. 

On  this  expedition  Greene  \vas  accompanied  by  the  Marquis  La  Fayette, 
and  a  mutual  esteem  conceived  at  the  battle  of  Brandywine,  and  increased  by 
a  subsequent  participation  of  toils  and  dangers,  became  now  cemented  into  an 
union  of  friendsliip  and  affection,  which  lasted  with  the  one  to  his  death,  and 
with  the  other  exists  to  this  day. 

Thus  ended  the  campaign  of  1777.  Washington  being  considerably  rein 
forced  from  the  northern  and  eastern  armies,  went  into  winter  quarters  at  the 
Valley  Forge,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Schuylkill,  about  sixteen  miles  from 
Philadelphia;  whilst  Sir  William  Howe,  after  gaining  two  considerable  victo 
ries,  and  acquiring  possession  of  the  defences  of  the  passage  of  the  Delaware, 
sat  down  in  Philadelphia — having  conquered  no  more  American  territory  than 
would  have  sufficed  for  his  men  to  spread  their  blankets  on. 

This  wras  an  important  winter  to  the  American  cause.  The  capture  of 
Burgoyne,  and  the  force  under  Washington,  which  was  now  becoming  very 
respectable,  brought  forth  the  European  powers  to  join  in  the  contest;  whilst 
the  commander  in  chief,  having  his  men  and  officers  collected  under  his  eye, 
had  for  the  first  time  a  fair  opportunity  of  reducing  them  to  discipline.  Nor 
was  it  the  least  important  circumstance,  that  he  had  now  acquired  some  one 
who  was  capable  of  disciplining  them.  Very  small,  indeed,  was  the  number 
of  his  officers,  even  in  high  rank,  who  were  fully  competent  to  discharge,  this 
duty.  Their  knowledge  wanted  the  finish  of  example  and  actual  service. 
But  the  talents  of  Stuben  were  now  brought  into  requisition,  and  aided  by  the 
zeal  and  aptness  of  the  American  officers,  great  advances  were  made  in  the 
course  of  the  winter,  to  give  the  army  the  consistency  and  power  which  disci 
pline  alone  can  communicate.  Yet,  afflicting  were  the  discouragements  under 
which  Washington  had  to  labour,  and  such  as  had  nearly  marred  all  these 
advantages.  Tents  he  had  none;  earth-covered  huts  and  the  habits  of  the 
American  people,  supplied  that  deficiency.  But  clothing,  blankets,  and  provi 
sions  could  not  be  obtained.  The  quarter-master's,  commissary's  and  clo 
thier's  departments  were  in  sad  confusion.  Severe  as  die  winter  had  been 
before  die  campaign  terminated,  many  of  his  men  were  actually  without 
shoes,  or  blankets;  and  it  was  no  exaggeration  when  it  was  declared,  that  the 
/rozen  ground  was  marked  with  the  blood  from  their  lacerated  feet.  But  die 
-opening  spring  was  destined  to  dispel  the  gloom  of  this  winter. 

It  was  the  last  of  November  when  Greene  joined  Washington  at  White- 
marsh.  Some  movements  of  the  enemy  indicating  an  attack,  detained  die 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE  95 

army  on  this  ground  until  the  night  of  the  12th,  when  they  crossed  die  Schuyl-   CHAP. 
kill  and  proceeded  to  the  Valley  Forge.  \^-v~>>s 

The  soldier  looks  forward  to  winter  quarters  as  the  place  of  rest  and  com 
fort,  if  not  of  enjoyment  But  sad  were  the  disappointments  which  the 
American  troops  were  destined  to  encounter  here. 

Exposure,  want  of  clothes  and  blankets,  deficiency  of  food,  and  other  causes", 
operated  to  produce  despondency  and  disease;  whilst  defects  in  the  hospital 
establishment  consigned  thousands  to  the  grave.  The  sickness  and  loss  of  life 
was  truly  astonishing.  And  the  returns  of  the  first  of  February  exhibit  a  total 
of  near  four  thousand  unfit  for  duty  for  want  of  clothes.  The  clotheir-general 
wanted  money,  the  commissary-general  could  find  nothing  to  purchase,  and 
the  quarter-master-general  had  not  been  in  camp  since  the  middle  of  the  sum 
mer.  Finally,  the  army  was  on  the  point  of  disbanding  for  want  of  provision, 
when  Washington  was  driven  to  an  expedient  which  he  abominated,  that  of 
ordering  out  Greene  to  forage  as  in  an  enemy's  country,  and  bring  in  what 
ever  could  be  found.  This  was  the  first  instance  in  which  General  Greene 
had  an  opportunity  of  experiencing  the  activity  and  intelligence  of  the  late 
General  Henry  Lee,  who  afterwards  served  under  liim  with  so  much  eclat 
in  his  southern  campaign.  By  exploring  the  woods  and  meadows  it  was 
found,  that  cattle  were  in  abundance,  but  were  concealed.  And  it  was  not  to 
have  been  expected  otherwise.  The  American  commissary  had  notliing  to 
offer  in  payment,  but  a  depreciated  currency,  or  promissory  certificates  of  an 
unestablished  government;  whilst  British  gold  flowed  in  streams  through  the 
market-place  of  Philadelphia.  On  the  score  of  patriotism,  the  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  country  they  were  in,  felt  their  consciences  completely  at 
rest  Most  of  them  were  Quakers,  who  considered  themselves  as  neutrals  in 
the  war;  and  a  sense  of  natural  justice  suggested  to  all,  that  while  they  bore 
their  due  proportion  of  the  common  burden,  there  was  no  just  reason  why 
their  property  should  be  seized  by  violence,  or  sold  for  a  compensation  that 
was  a  mere  mockery  in  value.  Hence,  strong  individual  feelings  conspired  to 
withdraw  supplies  from  the  American  army,  whilst  the  evil  was  consummated 
by  a  resolve  of  congress,  empowering,  nay,  requiring  the  commander  in  chief 
to  impress  whatever  he  wanted,  within  seventy  miles  of  his  camp.  Of  course, 
every  thing  that  could  be  removed  beyond  that  distance,  was  removed  to  a 
place  of  safety;  or  concealed,  until  it  could  clandestinely  be  conveyed  to  the 
Philadelphia  market,  where  every  necessary  of  life  bore  a  most  tempting 
price. 

Painful  as  it  was  to  the  commander  in  chief  to  issue  tliis  order,  it  was  still 
more  painful  for  Grecue  to  execute  it ;  but  he  consoled  himself  with  the  con- 


96  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE, 

CHAP,  sciousness  that  it  was  unavoidable,  and  it  was  executed  with  as  much  order, 

IV 

s^v,!^,  and  attention  to  individual  feeling  and  interest  as  the  nature  of  the  case  would 
admit  of. 

Plenty  once  more  flowed  into  the  American  camp,  and  to  keep  it  up  by  the 
the  same  means,  Wayne  was  detached  into  the  Jerseys  for  die  same  purpose. 
This  was  the  origin  of  the  jeu  d'esprit  of  the  celebrated  Major  Andre,  written 
on  Wayne,  concluding  with  four  lines  said  to  have  been  prophetic  of  his  own 
fate: 

"  But  now  I  end  my  lyric  strain, 
I  tremble  whilst  I  show  it, 
Lest  this  same  warrio-drover  Wayne 
Should  ever  catch  the  poet." 

The  unfortunate  poet  was  indeed  caught,  and  delivered  to  Wayne ;  and  suf 
fered  death. 

The  following  letters  written  by  General  Greene,  in  moments  snatched  from 
the  busy  scenes  of  this  active  campaign,  present  incidents,  feelings,  and  opi 
nions,  a  view  of  which  will,  we  hope,  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader. 

"  MORRISTOWN,  April  20/A,  1777. 

"  On  Sunday  last,  Lord  Cornwallis  from  Brunswick,  made  an  attempt  to 
surprize  General  Lincoln  at  Bounbrook.  They  in  part  effected  it,  owing  to 
the  valorous  conduct  of  the  militia,  who  were  posted  at  a  fording  place  on  the 
Rariton.  They  deserted  their  post,  without  giving  the  general  the  least  notice. 
The  enemy  were  at  the  general's  quarters  before  he  had  any  knowledge  of 
their  approach.  We  lost  three  pieces  of  cannon,  and  about  thirty  men;  they 
had  about  as  many  killed  and  wounded.  The  enemy  had  five  generals,  and 
four  thousand  troops;  our  General  Lincoln  had  but  about  four  hundred. 
Lord  Cornwallis  and  General  Grant  breakfasted  at  die  house  at  which  I  dined. 
The  enemy  halted  but  an  hour  and  a  half.  I  marched  from  Baskenridge  upon 
the  first  intelligence,  but  the  distance  was  twelve  miles,  and  the  enemy  had 
retreated  before  I  got  down.  The  next  nigiit  we  surprized  one  of  their 
pickets,  killed  one  ofliccr  and  seven  privates,  and  took  sixteen  prisoners. 
Pray,  how  goes  on  recruiting  with  you?  /  am  sure  the  continent  must  come  to 
drafting  at  last,  the  sooner  the  better.  Very  late  news  from  Europe  mentions 
that  a  French  and  Spanish  war  is  inevitable,  and  that  but  few  recruits  can  be 
got  for  the  reinforcement  of  the  British  army  in  America.  Our  strength  now 
is  trifling.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  diat  the  cause  of  freedom  rests  upon  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  97 

shoulders  of  so  few.     General  Howe  is  preparing  with  all  imaginable  dili-   CHAP. 
gence  to  take  the  field.     His  bridge  to  cross  the  Delaware,  so  much  talked  of,  ^^^, 
is  arrived  at  Brunswick,  as  I  am  informed  by  a  spy  who  left  that  place  last 
night.     I  would  thank  the  British  myrmidons  to  protract  the  opening. of  the 
campaign  for  about  three  weeks,  but  that  is  not  to  be  expected.     Our  army 
will  appear  like  Gideon  and  his  pitchers.     God  grant  us  die  same  success ;  the 
cause  is  equally  righteous,  and  claims  his  heavenly  protection." 

"  CAMP  AT  MIDDLEBROOK,  June  4?7t,  1777. 

"  I  have  only  time  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  you,  deli 
vered  me  by  Lieutenant  Littlefield.  I  suppose  you  are  a  little  out  of  temper 
at  the  ingratitude  of  the  people  in  turning  you  out  of  your  political  chair.  The 
state  of  Rhode  Island  is  too  democratic  for  the  happiness  of  the  people ;  there 
is  very  little  or  no  executive  force  in  its  government.  Passion  and  prejudice 
have  too  much  influence  in  administration  to  preserve  die  best  and  happiest 
line  of  cc  iduct. 

"  I  think  you  mention  a  division  of  our  interests.  If  you  think  it  best  I  am 
content.  Set  me  off  such  parts  of  die  estate  as  you  may  judge  equal;  let  it  be 
valued,  and  I  will  either  give  or  take.  I  had  no  thought  of  a  division  of  our 
interests  at  present,  but  if  it  is  necessary,  I  am  content ;  every  thing  for  the 
good  of  the  whole. 

"  God  knows  how  long  this  war  may  last — the  want  of  union  and  virtue 
among  the  Americans  may  protract  it  for  some  time.  We  have  now  a  very 
respectable  force  in  the  field  from  the  southward,  though  not  large.  The 
eastern  troops  are  very  backward  in  coming  on.  The  state  of  Pennsylvania 
is  in  great  confusion.  The  Quakers  are  poisoning  every  body;  foolish 
people!  The  congress  and  I  do  not  agree  in  politics;  they  are  introducing 
a  great  many  foreigners.  I  think  it  dangerous  to  trust  so  large  a  part  of  die 
American  army  to  the  command  of  strangers.  British  gold  is  of  a  poisonous 
quality,  and  the  human  heart  treacherous  to  the  last  degree.  There  are  no 

less  than  four  general  officers  of  the nation  now  in  the  American 

service.  There  is  a  French  gentleman  sent  over  by  Mr.  Dean  to  have  the 
command  of  all  the  artillery  in  America.  If  his  appointment  is  confirmed,  it: 
will  rob  us  of  one  of  the  best,  or  at  least,  as  good  an  officer  as  we  have  in  the 
service — General  Knox.  I  tremble  for  the  consequences,  as  I  fear  it  will 
ruin  the  whole  corps,  and  it  is  now  upon  a  very  respectable  footing  and  in 
creasing  in  perfection  daily.  "Wisdom  and  prudence  sometimes  forsake  the 
wisest  bodies.  I  am  exceedingly  distressed  at  the  state  of  diings  in  the  great 
national  council." 

13 


98  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


CHAP. 
IV. 


"PoMPTON  PLAINS,  NEW  JERSEY,  July  13/ft,  1777. 

"  General  St.  Clair,  who  commanded  at  Ticonderoga,  has  evacuated  that 
important  post.  His  garrison  consisted  of  between  four  and  five  thousand 
men,  in  good  health  and  high  spirits.  With  such  a  garrison,  strongly  en 
trenched  and  well  armed,  fully  supplied  with  provisions  and  ammunition,  and 
the  works  defended  by  170  pieces  of  cannon,  it  was  evacuated  without  firing 
a  gun.  General  Schuyler  had  2,000  men  with  him  at  Fort  Edward.  General 
Nixon  was  on  his  march  from  Albany  with  upwards  of  1,000  continental 
troops — the  militia  of  the  country  coming  in  from  all  quarters  to  the  aid  of  the 
garrison — and  the  commanding  oflicer,  fully  acquainted  with  all  these  circum 
stances,  has  abandoned  the  post.  What  could  induce  him  to  take  such  a 
measure  God  only  knows.  Burgoyne's  whole  force  only  consisted  of  5,500 
men;  the  whole  is  a  mystery  to  all  the  army.  Charity  obliges  me  to  suspend 
aU  ill-natured  reflections,  but  I  fear  there  has  been  some  misconduct  some 
where.  Our  affairs  never  were  in  so  prosperous  a  train  as  they  were  before 
this.  This  afiair  will  give  us  a  severe  wound.  But  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
I  hope  to  recover  the  shock.  What  has  become  of  the  garrison,  whether  they 
are  prisoners,  or  gone  down  to  No.  4,  I  cannot  learn.  1  think  it  is  probable  I 
shall  be  sent  to  the  north. 

"  General  Howe  and  almost  all  his  troops  are  embarked,  their  destination 
unknown.  I  have  had  some  fears  for  Providence,  but  Philadelphia  or  the 
North  River  are  objects  of  much  greater  importance;  we  are  on  our  march 
to  join  General  Putnam  on  the  North  River." 


"  CAMP  CROSS  ROADS,  Mth  August  Mil. 

"  Your  favours  of  the  12th  and  19th  of  July  I  have  received.  I  am  exceed 
ingly  alarmed  at  the  ill  state  of  health  you  appear  to  be  in. 

"  The  calamities  of  the  war,  the  late  misfortunes  and  the  common  depres 
sion  of  spirits  that  accompanies-  every  species  of  indisposition,  generally  prey 
upon  the  imagination,  and  perhaps  may  have  taken  an  ungenerous  advantage 
of  you  in  the  present  ca.se.  However,  I  would  recommend  great  attention 
to  your  diet  and  exercise.  Nothing  contributes  more  to  health  than  seasona 
ble  and  light  diet,  accompanied  with  moderate  exercise.  You  must  learn  to 
be  the  philosopher — to  behold  misfortunes  without  repining,  limit  the  passions, 
the  appetites  and  desires  to  the  state  of  the  body,  and  the  necessity  of  the 
times.  However  unfortunate  things  may  appear,  let  us  console  ourselves  with 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  99 

i 

reflecting  that  the  greatest  good  often  springs  out  of  what  we  consider  as  the  CHAP. 
worst  of  evils.  General  Burguyne's  triumphs  and  little  advantages  may  serve  ^^^^> 
to  bait  his  vanity  and  lead  him  on  to  his  total  ruin.  This  is  not  improbable  when 
we  consult  the  temper  of  the  human  heart,  the  history  of  mankind,  and  the 
dispensations  of  divine  providence  upon  the  rise  and  fall  of  men  and  kingdoms. 
The  campaign  opened  with  a  very  fortunate  train  of  circumstances.  General 
Howe  was  foiled  in  all  his  manoeuvres,  and  disgraced  in  every  movement. 
Our  success  was  equal  to  our  utmost  wishes.  The  northern  department  has 
brought  disgrace  upon  the  American  arms,  and  a  cloud  over  New  England. 
But  even  all  these  misfortunes  may  be  a  necessary  prelude  to  General  Burgoyne's 
jinal  overthrow.  I  agree  with  you  that  there  is  something  very  mysterious  in 
conducting  the  military  operations  to  the  northward.  There  must  have  been 
a  want  of  judgment  in  the  choice  of  the  posts  and  extent  of  the  works,  or 
some  great  negligence  in  fairly  representing  the  true  state  of  things.  \Ve  were 
all  led  to  believe  the  situation  of  the  place  so  strong  by  nature  and  so  improved 
by  art,  that  the  garrison  was  sufficient  to  defend  itself  against  any  number  that 
might  be  brought  against  it.  Whatever  may  be  the  source  of  the  misfortune,  it 
is  not  owing  to  cowardice.  I  have  been  with  General  St.  Clair  in  two  actions, 
and  know  him  to  be  a  man  of  bravery ;  and  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands,  that  the 
garrison  was  in  high  health  and  full  of  spirits,  and  left  the  place  with  great 
reluctance.  Charity  obliges  me  to  suspend  my  opinion  until  there  is  a  fair 
and  candid  inquiry  made  into  the  cause  of  the  evacuation  of  Ticomleroga, 
and  if  it  was  necessary  to  evacuate  it,  why  it  had  not  been  done  earlier.  If 
the  stores  and  garrison  had  been  saved,  the  loss  of  the  place  would  have  been 
inconsiderable. 

"  We  have  been  in  and  about  the  city  of  Philadelphia  for  near  a  fortnight 
past,  ignorant  of  General  Howe's  destination.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  against 
New  England,  but  I  have  my  fears.  We  were  marching  towards  Coryel's 
Ferry  from  the  city,  expecting  the  fleet  was  gone  eastwardly,  when,  by  an 
express  from  the  president  of  congress  last  night,  we  learned  that  the  fleet  are 
bound  westwardly.  I  wish  it  may  be  true.  It  was  said  that  two  hundred  sail 
were  seen  off  the  coast,  between  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  Bays,  but  I  doubt 
the  intelligence;  for  I  cannot  persuade  myself  that  General  Burgoyne  would 
dare  to  push  with  such  rapidity  towards  Albany,  if  he  did  not  expect  support  f torn 
General  Howe. 

"  You  lament  the  ruin  of  trade,  the  depreciation  of  money,  and  the  discon 
tent  of  the  people  as  so  many  sure  marks  of  the  downfall  of  our  cause.  It  is 
true,  our  trade  is  greatly  injured,  but  remember  whilst  it  rains  upon  us,  the  sun 
does  not  shine  upon  them.  Our  trade  is  perhaps  not  more  injured  than  theirs; 


100  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  we  must  balance  accounts  in  national  suffering.  If  the  diminution  of  their 
>^^s  force  and  resources  equal  our  misfortunes  and  losses,  then  \ve  are  not  sufferers 
on  the  great  scale  of  national  gain.  The  depreciation  of  money  is  rather  a 
temporary,  and  in  some  respects,  a  local  evil.  The  increase  of  trade  and  a 
proper  attention  to  taxation  will  soon  correct  the  evil.  The  army  are  the 
greatest  sufferers.  All  the  other  parts  of  the  community  regnlate  their  conduct 
and  prices  by  one  another.  But  the  wages  of  the  army  are  fixed  and  un 
changeable.  There  is  a  fund  of  hard  money  now  establishing  in  Europe, 
sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  of  all  our  loans.  This  cannot  fail  of  establishing 
the  credit  of  die  money  abroad  and  at  home.  This  is  a  good  piece  of  policy. 
The  discontent  of  the  people  is  not  greater  than  is  to  be  expected  in  every 
revolution,  when  robbed  of  the  blessings  of  peace  and  plenty,  and  forced  into 
a  long  and  distressing  war  to  obtain  some  future  advantage  that  they  have  but 
an  indistinct  conception  of.  I  have  no  doubt  of  a  happy  issue,  although  we  may 
experience  many  calamities  in  the  course  of  the  dispute. 

"  You  distress  me  exceedingly  in  committing  to  my  charge  the  care  of  your 
family.  God  grant  you  may  long  live  to  discharge  die  duty  yourself.  I  feel 
»  the  force  of  brotherly  affection  equally  strong  with  yourself.  I  have  been 
equally  happy  in  our  mutual  good  understanding.  The  sweet  pleasures 
of  social  fellowship  have  ever  been  one  of  the  greatest  sources  of  my  happi 
ness.  Few  misfortunes  in  life,  however  tender  my  other  connexions  may  be, 
could  equal  the  loss.  Although  I  should  esteem  this  charge  one  of  my  greatest 
misfortunes,  yet  I  trust  I  should  discharge  my  duty  to  the  survivors  of  the 
family  with  such  a  brotherly  affection  as  to  leave  no  cause  of  a  blush  when 
we  meet  in  another  world.  But  heaven  avert  so  great  an  evil  to  them  and 
to  me,  and  grant  you  long  life  and  better  health  shall  be  my  constant  prayer." 

We  will  not  restore  this  letter  to  our  files  without  giving  the  reader  a  further 
extract  from  it,  to  show  how  deep  and  durable  are  the  impressions  of  nursery 
tales  even  upon  the  strongest  minds.  Speaking  of  his  youngest  child,  an 
infant,  he  says,  "  Mrs.  Greene  tells  me  she  is  marked  with  port  wine.  Be 
pleased  to  send  some  to  the  nurse,  and  direct  her  to  wash  the  part  and  give 
the  child  a  little.  This,  however  simple  it  may  appear,  has  been  often  known 
to  remove  the  marks." 

During  this  winter  Washington  strained  every  nerve  to  place  his  army  on  a 
respectable  footing  for  operating  in  the  ensuing  campaign ;  and  as  the  quarter 
master-general's  department  is  vitally  important  to  every  movement  of  an 
army,  Washington  pressed  Greene  to  accept  of  die  appointment. 


IV. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  101 

It  was  with  extreme  reluctance  that  he  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  the   CHAP. 
commander  in  chief.     He  was  above  all  things  apprehensive  of  undertaking 
an  office  which  required  the  expenditure  of  public  money.     He  well  knew 
how  few  men  undertake  such  offices  without  beins;  chargeable  with  a  view  to 

o  o 

private  emolument,  and  he  knew  also  the  morbid  jealousy  felt  by  lookers  on, 
at  the  conduct  of  those  to  whom  such  trusts  are  confided.  He  was  aware,  too, 
of  the  murmurs  which  the  party  of  Conway  would  industriously  excite  against 
his  administration,  whatever  should  be  the  purity  of  his  conduct.  Congress 
also,  in  that  spirit  of  mistaken  economy  which  governed  too  many  of  their 
acts,  had  increased  the  objections  to  undertaking  this  office  by  heaping  upon  it 
dudes  only  remotely  connected  with  it.  For  a  length  of  time  it  was  impos 
sible  to  get  any  competent  person  to  undertake  the  office,  and  it  was  only  when 
General  Washington  was  compelled  to  exclaim,  "  Some  one  must  make  the 
sacrifice,"  that  Greene  submitted  to  undertake  it.  But  he  subjoined  two  con 
ditions;  first,  that  he  should  not  lose  his  right  of  command  in  action;  secondly, 
that  he  should  have  two  assistants  that  would  be  agreeable  to  him.  These 
conditions  the  commander  in  chief  readily  complied  with,  and  the  choice  of 
assistants  fell  upon  two  men,  than  whom,  none  better  could  have  been  selected 
— his  two  friends,  Colonels  Coxe  and  Petit. 

To  those  who  are  unacquainted  with  the  duties  of  a  quarter-master-general, 
it  may  still  appear  surprising  that  the  subject  of  these  sketches  should  quit  a 
station  that  he  was  fond  of,  and  the  duties  of  which  were  familiar  to  him,  to 
enter  upon  the  untried  career  of  an  office,  which,  notwithstanding  its  vital 
importance,  is  still,  like  the  useful  arts,  considered  as  inferior  in  gradation. 
But  military  men  are  competent  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  the  duties  of 
a  quarter-master-general.  The  fact  is,  it  gives  life  and  motion  to  an  army. 
The  commissary-general  must  purchase,  but  the  quarter-master-general  must 
transport  every  article  of  the  first  necessity  to  camp.  The  army  may  be 
ordered  to  move,  but  he  only  can  furnish  the  indispensable  means  of  setting  it 
in  motion.  And  it  may  be  ordered  to  halt,  but  he  must  provide  for  its  halting 
in  comfort.  In  fact,  although  he  does  not  move  the  automaton,  he  prepares 
the  whole  machinery  and  winds  it  up  for  motion. 

There  was  one  consideration  which  was  not  without  its  influence  in  inducing 
him  to  accept  of  this  appointment.  Hitherto  he  had  almost  always  acted  in  a 
subordinate  station.  This  appointment  furnished  an  opportunity  for  discover 
ing  that  he  was  competent  to  any  other.  The  office  requires  an  arranging 
and  combining  mind,  habits  of  industry  and  business,  and  an  ubiquity  of 
talent  that  will  leave  nothing  unattended  to. 


102  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.        Such,  lie  soon  gave  the  most  satisfactory  proofs  of  his  possessing,  in  a  degree 
s^-v^/that  justified  the  commander  in  chief  in  this  appointment. 

Washington  no  longer  suffered  the  vexatious  delays  which  had  resulted  from 
the  previous  defects  in  this  department.  Although  often  driven  to  the  most 
disagreeable  of  all  means  for  supplying  an  army — impressment,  and  always 
embarrassed  by  the  scarcity  and  depreciation  of  money,  within  a  few  weeks 
after  this  appointment,  which  was  2d  March  1778,  order  was  introduced  every 
where,  and  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign  of  that  year,  the  commander  in 
chief  was  enabled  to  follow  up  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  with  an  activity 
hitherto  unexampled.  A  change  which  we  have  the  express  avowal  of  Gene 
ral  Washington,  was  attributable  altogether  to  the  measures  of  the  new  quar- 
ter-master-general. 

Howe  had  now  been  superceded  by  Clinton,  and  on  the  18th  June  1778 
Philadelphia  was  evacuated.  This  measure  was  produced  by  intelligence  that 
a  French  fleet  had  sailed  to  intercept  the  British  army  in  the  Delaware. 
Unfortunately,  adverse  winds  had  greatly  protracted  the  voyage  of  this  fleet 
across  the  Atlantic,  or  the  Count  D'Estaing,  who  commanded  it,  might  have 
siinialized  the  commencement  of  the  war  between  France  and  Great  Britain 

C? 

by  many  important  captures,  and  perhaps  by  the  fall  of  the  whole  British 
army;  for  the  British  force  was  now  greatly  reduced.  Philadelphia  had 
proved  a  Capua  to  Howe's  army.  He  had  landed  certainly  15,000  (it  is  con 
fidently  believed  18,000)  men  at  the  head  of  Elk  River,  and  been  since  largcly 
reinforced  from  New  York.  Yet  not  more  than  11,000  effective  men  marched 
out  of  Philadelphia.  About  a  thousand  had  fallen  in  battle  or  been  made 
prisoners,  and  their  loss  by  sickness  could  not  have  been  very  great;  for  com 
fortable  quarters  had  kept  their  army  comparatively  healthy.  But  great 
numbers  had  deserted.  Their  intercourse  with  the  women  of  that  place,  with 
whom  many  intermarried,  and  with  the  Europeans  settlers,  particularly  the 
Germans,  induced  many  to  wish  to  remain  in  the  country.  Among  the  Hes 
sians,  the  spirit  of  desertion  was  universal.  Their  countrymen  who  had  been 
captured  at  Trenton,  were  comfortably  disposed  of  in  a  part  of  Pennsylvania 
inhabited  by  Germans,  and  possessing  every  thing  that  could  tempt  men  to 
return  to  it;  and  on  being  exchanged,  few  of  them  missed  an  opportunity  to 
escape,  or  to  carry  off  with  them  some  of  their  companions  in  arms.  On  their 
retreat  through  the  Jerseys,  it  is  thought  that  not  less  than  one  thousand  more 
effected  their  escape. 

Washington's  force  was  about  equal  to  his  adversary's,  and  on  the  same 
day  that  the  enemy  crossed  the  Delaware  at  Philadelphia,  he  took  up  his  line 
of  March  for  CorycFs  Ferry,  about  forty  miles  above  that  city,  and  crossed  his 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  ,  103 

army  over  into  the  Jerseys.     Two  detachments  were  at  the  same  time  thrown   CHAP. 
across  the  river,  the  one  at,  the  other  below  the  city,  with  orders  to  hang  upon  ^x-v^y 
the  rear  and  right  of  the  enemy,  whilst  the  main  army  pursued  the  direct  route 
towards  New  York  on  his  left.     The  importance  of  the  occasion  rendered  it 
proper,  in  the  opinion  of  the  commander  in  chief,  to  call  a  council  of  war  to 
deliberate  on  die  question,  what  course  ought  to  be  pursued  with  regard  to  the 
enemy. 

At  this  board  there  was  a  great  diversity  of  opinion.  General  Lee,  as  well 
as  most  of  the  foreign  officers,  and  a  large  majority  of  the  whole  board,  were 
decidedly  against  fighting.  Wayne  and  Cadwallader,  "  such  in  that  moment 
as  in  all  the  past,"  were  warmly  for  battle.  Only  two  members  of  the  board 
expressed  the  opinion  which  appeared  afterwards  to  have  governed  die  con 
duct  of  the  commander  in  chief.  These  were  Greene  and  La  Fayette,  who 
declared  that  the  country  ought  to  be  protected,  and  if  necessary  to  fight  the 
enemy  for  that  purpose,  or  if  a  favourable  opportunity  presented  itself  of 
attacking  him  with  effect,  it  ought  not  to  be  avoided.  In  other  words,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  anticipate  a  decision. 

With  a  guarded  but  firm  step  Washington  approached  his  enemy,  and  when 
in  the  vicinity  of  Monmouth,  he  thought  the  opportunity  of  fighting,  which  he 
really  coveted,  had  arrived. 

He  had  detached  a  strong  force  under  La  Fayette  to  approach  the  enemy's 
rear,  with  orders  to  act  as  circumstances  should  suggest ;  and  bodies  of  riflemen 
and  militia  were  in  advance  of  him  and  on  his  flanks.  Clinton  thought  his 
enormous  train  of  baggage  waggons,  containing  his  provisions,  and  the  estab 
lishments  matrimonial  or  otherwise,  made  by  his  officers  in  Philadelphia,  was 
the  object  aimed  at,  and  placing  thorn  under  a  very  strong  escort  commanded 
by  Knyphausen,  he  united  the  rest  of  his  force  in  his  rear,  to  check  the  advance 
of  the  parties  that  hung  upon  him. 

The  troops  under  Knyphausen  were  too  far  advanced  to  reinforce  Clinton 
had  it  been  necessary,  and  it  was  probable  that  Knyphausen's  orders  were 
such  as  would  not  admit  of  his  abandoning  the  particular  object  of  his  care. 
And  as  the  enemy  were  still  in  a  champaign  country,  presenting  no  extraordi 
nary  defensive  advantages,  General  Washington  thought  it  advisable  to  hasten 
an  attack,  before  the  enemy  should  reach  the  high  grounds  of  Middletown, 
about  twelve  miles  in  advance,  and  where  he  would  be  utterly  unassailable. 

The  commander  in  chief  accordingly  dispatched  a  strong  reinforcement 
under  Lee  to  join  La  Fayette,  with  orders  to  engage  and  detain  die  enemy, 
whilst  he  in  person  brought  up  the  rest  of  his  forces. 


10i  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Upon  Lee's  junction  with  the  marquis  the  command  devolved  upon  the 
^-v^,  former,  and  in  pursuance  of  his  orders,  he  advanced  upon  and  engaged  the 
enemy.  But  soon  commenced  a  retreat,  and  whilst  in  the  act  of  retreating 
was  joined  by  Washington  with  the  main  army.  The  latter,  in  a  moment  of 
chagrin  at  a  supposed  disobedience  of  orders,  threw  something  either  into  his 
words  or  manner  which  was  retorted  with  less  respect  than  was  consistent 
with  their  relative  stations;  and  General  Lee  followed  up  the  affair  after  the 
battle  with  letters,  which  certainly  were  not  written  in  the  spirit  of  proper 
decorum.  The  issue  is  well  known;  Lee  was  suspended  from  command;  but 
whilst  impartial  posterity  shall  condemn  the  insubordination  of  his  letters  to 
the  commander  in  chief,  they  will  probably  decide  strongly  in  favour  of  the 
propriety  of  his  conduct  in  retreating  when  he  did.  It  was  calculated  to  draw 
his  enemy  further  from  his  baggage,  and  to  involve  him  amidst  morasses  that 
would  have  greatly  favoured  his  final  overthrow.  Perhaps  it  was  the  real 
cause  of  the  partial  success  which  ensued.  But  our  province  is  to  enter  no 
further  into  this  discussion  than  to  show  the  part  which  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  our 
hero  to  act  on  the  occasion. 

He  commanded,  in  pursuance  of  the  stipulation  under  which  he  undertook 
the  duties  of  quarter-master- general,  the  right  wing  of  the  second  line.  And 
the  most  fastidious  unite  in  acknowledging  the  signal  services  rendered  by 
him  on  this  occasion.  Greene  was  ordered  to  a  particular  position,  in  the  rear 
of  the  enemy's  left;  but  a  change  of  circumstances  which  soon  ensued,  deter 
mined  him  to  occupy  another,  and  the  signal  service  rendered  from  that  posi 
tion,  in  checking  and  repelling  the  enemy,  drew  from  the  magnanimity  of  the 
commander  an  acknowledgment  of  its  correctness. 
.  The  occurrence  is  thus  related. 

On  meeting  with  the  retreating  detachment  under  Lee,  with  the  enemy  close 
at  their  heels,  Washington  ordered  him  to  face  about  and  engage  them,  whilst 
he  brought  up  his  troops  and  formed  them  for  battle.  Aided  by  a  check  given 
the  enemy  from  the  artillery  of  the  first  line,  Lee  obeyed  these  orders  with 
spirit,  and  after  a  sharp  action  retreated  in  good  order. 

During  this  action,  on  a  movement  made  by  the  enemy  which  threatened 
the  right  of  Washington's  line,  Greene  was  ordered  to  file  off  about  two  miles 
from  Englishtown,  which  is  on  the  road  to  Monmouth,  and  to  fall  into  the 
Monmouth  road  a  small  distance  in  the  rear  of  the  court-house,  while  the 
residue  of  the  army  proceeded  directly  forward.  This  movement  would  have 
brought  him  into  the  rear  of  the  position  in  which  the  armies  were  now 
engaged.  He  had  already  advanced  some  distance,  but  hearing  of  the  retreat 
of  the  party  under  Lee,  and  foreseeing  that  it  would  expose  the  troops  imme- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  105 

diately  under  Washington  to  the  whole  weight  of  the  enemy's  attack,  he  ini-  OITAP. 
mediately  changed  his  route  and  took  an  advantageous  position  near  to 
enemy's  left.  As  he  had  foreseen,  this  movement  withdrew  the  enemy  from 
his  designs  against  the  left  or  first  line  of  the  American  army,  and  drew  on  a 
most  furious  attack  upon  his  own  division.  General  Knox,  who  commanded 
the  artillery  of  this  division,  poured  in  a  most  destructive  fire  upon  the  advanc 
ing  line,  and  being  seconded  by  the  infantry  with  the  greatest  firmness  and  a 
steady  fire,  the  enemy  were  soon  driven  with  great  loss  back  to  the  position 
they  occupied  when  Lee  first  advanced  upon  them  in  the  morning.  It  was 
now  that  the  whole  army  had  an  opportunity  of  perceiving  the  strength  of  this 
position,  and  the  difficulties  of  assailing  him  whilst  he  continued  in  it.  After 
carefully  reconnoitring  it,  the  American  army  was  withdrawn,  and  lay  for  the 
night  upon  their  arms,  ready  to  renew  the  attack  in  the  morning. 

Rolled  up  in  his  cloak,  Greene  reposed  at  the  foot  of  a  tree  on  the  field  of 
battle,  whilst  die  commander  in  chief  shared  no  better  accommodation.  Yet 
it  is  affectionately  related  of  him  by  the  soldiers  who  fought  under  him,  that 
he  sought  not  his  pillow  until  due  care  was  taken  of  the  wounded;  and  the 
humble  fare  of  the  common  soldier  sated  an  appetite  rendered  keen  by  a  day's 
fasting.  Nor  was  he  at  liberty  to  retire  after  this  fatiguing  day,  until  innume 
rable  orders  were  dispatched  relative  to  the  affairs  of  the  department  over- 
which  he  presided. 

It  will  be  some  gratification  to  the  American  reader  to  peruse  the  British 
account  of  this  occurrence.  It  is  extracted  from  the  Annual  Register  of 

O 

1778,  and  is  quoted  with  more  confidence,  as  the  subject  of  these  sketches 
used  to  speak  with  respect  of  the  candour  with  which  that  history  was  written. 
"  The  British  grenadiers,  with  their  left  to  the  village  of  Freehold  and  the 
guards  on  their  right,  began  the  attack  with  such  spirit  that  the  enemy  soon 
gave  way.  But  their  second  line  preserved  a  better  countenance,  and  resisted 
a  fierce  and  eager  attack  with  great  obstinacy.  They  were,  however,  com 
pletely  routed,  but  in  this  exigency,  with  a  very  unusual  degree  of  recollection 
as  well  as  resolution,  took  a  third  position  with  so  much  judgment,  that  their 
front  was  covered  by  a  marshy  hollow  which  scarcely  admitted  of  an  attack 
by  that  way." 

The  first  line  here  spoken  of  obviously  means  the  command  under  Lee,  and 
the  second,  both  the  bodies  of  troops  which  the  enemy  successively  engaged 
after  his  retreat.  The  account  is  incorrect  in  asserting  that  they  were  routed, 
for  they  never  receded  from  the  positions  at  which  they  repulsed  the  enemy's 
successive  attacks.  And  the  position,  covered  by  a  morass,  on  which  they  pass 

U 


106  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  an  encomium,  was  that  taken  by  Greene  on  changing  his  route  and  coming 
to  the  relief  of  Washington  and  the  main  army. 

The  oppressive  heat  of  this  day  will  long  be  a  subject  of  painful  recollection. 
Several  of  the  Americans  dropped  dead  without  a  wound,  and  of  the  British, 
full  fifty-nine  shared  the  same  fate. 

It  was  in  this  battle  that  the  Americans  first  felt  die  incalculable  advantages 
of  mature  discipline,  and  complete  organization.  It  was  fought  with  order  and 
science,  and  except  a  little  irregularity  committed  by  a  small  portion  of  Lee's 
command  in  their  first  retrogade  movement,  there  was  no  instance  of  confu- 
sion.  Nothing  of  the  waywardness  of  unsubdued  minds,  or  of  die  panic  fears 
which  invade  an  army  not  connected  by  the  bonds  of  discipline. 

Yet,  had  not  Greene  risked  his  reputation  by  deviating  from  his  commander's 
orders,  the  event  might  have  been  truly  disastrous.  Lee  had  retired  from  the 
field,  and  was  ordered  to  a  new  position  at  least  tliree  miles  distant  from  the 
scene  of  action,  on  the  enemy's  right.  Greene  was  ordered,  and  on  his  march, 
to  a  point  not  much  nearer,  on  his  left,  and  military  men  will  judge  whether 
there  was  not  the  most  serious  danger  that  the  several  corps  of  the  American 
army  would  have  been  cut  up  in  detiil,  for  no  one  alone  was  sufficient  to  resist 
the  concentrated  force  of  the  enemy.  Such  are  the  vicissitudes  of  human 
fame!  Lee  in  the  morning  had  ventured  on  the  same  thing,  perhaps  with 
equal  judgment  and  effect,  and  was  ultimately  ruined.  Greene,  not  deterred 
by  the  offence,  which  Lee  had  given  on  the  occasion,  on  the  same  day  ventured 
on  disobedience,  and  perhaps  saved  the  army,  certainly  much  increased  his 
own  reputation. 

The  enemy  halted,  merely  long  enough  in  the  night  to  rest  and  refresh  his 
men,  and  then  silently  moved  on  and  rejoined  Knyphausen.  This  movement 
was  not  discovered  until  it  was  too  late  to  pursue,  and  Clinton  crossed  in  secu 
rity  to  New  York,  whilst  Washington  inclined  to  the  left  to  defend  the  Jerseys 
and  secure  the  passes  of  the  Highlands. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  107 


CHAPTER   V. 


French  fleet  arrives.  Attempt  on  Rhode  Island.  Embarrassments  in  the 
quarter-master-generaTs  department.  Hews  of  policy  suggested.  Comcay's 
intrigues.  Greene  resigns  his  appointment  in  the  staff. 


±  HE  American  forces  were  now  at  leisure  to  turn  their  attention  towards  CHA? 
offensive  operations,  v- 

Ever  since  the  fall  of  the  year  1776,  the  enemy  had  remained  in  possession 
of  the  *own  of  Newport  in  Rhode  Island.  It  was  a  position  well  chosen,  and 
recommended  by  many  important  considerations.  The  port  and  bar  are 
peihaps  the  best  on  the  whole  Atlantic  coast,  and  whilst  it  served  to  distract 
the  attention  of  the  eastern  states  from  the  grand  operations  under  Burgoyne 
and  Howe,  it  in  a  great  measure  excluded  the  American  privateers  and  their 
prizes  from  an  invaluable  place  of  rendezvous  and  retreat.  It  was  also 
remarkable  for  the  salubrity  of  its  climate,  and  served  for  the  retreat  of  con 
valescents,  whilst  it  contributed  to  give  countenance  to,  and  draw  supplies 
from  the  disaffected  in  that  section  of  country. 

At  this  time  the  number  of  troops  at  Newport  was  about  six  thousand,  under 
the  command  of  Major  General  Pigot.  And  there  were  in  the  harbour,  six 
frigates  and  various  vessels  of  minor  force.  Clinton,  on  his  retreat  from 
Philadelphia,  apprehensive  that  a  blow  would  be  aimed  at  this  point,  had 
reinforced  it,  and  abundantly  supplied  it  with  all  the  munitions  of  war.  Works 


103  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  had  been  constructed  across  the  island  at  convenient  distances,  and  the  whole 
v^^^^x placed  in  as  complete  a  state  of  defence  as  circumstances  would  admit  of;  and 
while  the  British  fleet  commanded  the  coast,  all  hopes  of  success  in  an  attack 
on  it  were  abandoned  by  the  Americans.  On  the  other  hand,  the  enemy  never 
dared  penetrate  into  the  country,  for  they  feared  the  spirit  and  patriotism  of 
the  militia.  The  hardy  and  valorous  mountaineers  of  New  Hampshire  and 
Vermont  were  not  far  distant.  The  populous  states  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut  looked  to  the  head  of,Narraganset  Bay  as  their  point  of  concen 
tration,  whilst  a  spirit  of  independence  animated  the  state  of  Rhode  Island  far 
beyond  her  strength  or  her  resources.  Early  recollections  still  gave  a  tone 
and  character  to  the  conduct  of  this  little  state,  which  caused  their  enemy  to 
dread  approaching  the  shores  of  the  bay;  and  such  respect  was  paid  to  the 
spirit  of  the  people,  that  their  privateers  could  still  run  in  and  out  of  the  bay, 
and  lie  in  safety  under  protection  of  the  small  arms  of  the  inhabitants  on  its 
banks. 

At  length  the  long  looked  for  French  fleet  arrived.  It  was  decidedly  supe 
rior  to  that  of  the  enemy,  and  had  been  expedited  under  the  advice  of  our 
commissioners  at  Paris.  But  all  the  ill  omens  of  the  heavens  must  have  been 
in  conjuction  at  the  birth  of  this  expedition.  Never  had  finer  prospects  been 
held  out  to  man,  of  rendering  efficient  and  gallant,  services  than  now  presented 
themselves  to  D'Estaign  the  commander  of  this  fleet.  But  every  opportunity 
appeared  to  glide  from  his  grasp  just  at  the  moment  wrhen  it  ought  to  have 
been  embraced. 

First,  he  was  eighty-five  days  on  a  passage  that  generally  requires  but  half 
that  time.  Ten  days  sooner  would  have  put  him  in  possession  of  his  enemy's 
fleet  and  army  in  the  Delaware.  As  it  was,  had  he  steered  for  New  York 
instead  of  the  capes  of  Virginia,  he  might  have  intercepted  the  transports  and 
the  army,  or  entered  with  them  pell  mell  and  obtained  possession  of  New  York. 
Again,  from  the  capes  of  the  Delaware  he  proceeded  to  New  York,  and  such 
was  the  weak  state  of  the  naval  defence  of  that  place  on  his  arrival,  that  it  was 
the  English  opinion  that  his  force  was  even  then  adequate  to  have  forced  his 
way  into  the  harbour.  But,  after  loitering  twelve  days  before  that  place,  he 
sailed  for  Rhode  Island  just  when  a  day's  further  delay  would  have  put  him 
in  possession,  by  detail,  of  Admiral  Byron's  whole  fleet,  which  had  been  sent 
out  to  reinforce  Lord  Howe,  and  now  arrived  singly  and  crippled  at  New 
York.  Nor  did  his  evil  fortune  desert  him  here ;  or  rather,  the  subsequent 
events  are  more  properly  attributable  to  evil  conduct. 

"When  arrived  before  Newport,  Lord  Howe  being  reinforced  by  Byron's 
squadron,  followed  him  from  New  York  with  a  resolution  to  relieve  Newport. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE  109 

He  found  the  French  admiral  securely  anchored  in  the  bay,  in  a  situation  CHAP. 
which  it  was  impossible  to  force,  and  he  had  not  a  thought  of  making  the  ^^~^-^ 
attempt.  Could  he  by  any  means  draw  off  the  garrison  from  the  east  side  of 
the  island,  it  was  the  utmost  he  could  hope  to  effect;  for  Sullivan  then  lay  at 
the  heights  near  Newport,  having  landed  on  the  island  with  eleven  thousand 
men,  one  half  of  them  disciplined  troops.  The  fate  of  the  British  garrison 
was  certain ;  and  the  French  admiral,  after  one  brilliant  achievement,  would 
have  been  at  liberty  to  attack  the  fleet  with  men  inspirited  by  recent  victory, 
and  disembarrassed  of  the  large  and  useless  body  of  land  forces  which  he  had 
on  board.  The  assault  was  actually  destined  for  the  next  day,  on  a  plan 
which  could  not  have  failed  of  succeeding ;  and  it  would  have  taken  place  but 
for  the  sensitive  feelings  of  the  chivalrous  count,  on  a  stupid  affair  of  etiquette, 
which  no  great  and  good  man  will  ever  hesitate  to  pretermit  to  views  of  sub 
stantial  service.  But,  under  the  influence  of  the  same  morbid  sensibility  to 
the  honour  of  his  royal  master,  he  could  not  brook  to  be  insulted  by  an  offer 
of  battle  from  the  British  fleet,  and  gallantly  abandoned  an  origiral  and  con 
certed  enterprize,  now  matured  for  certain  success,  to  chase  "  the  bubble  repu 
tation"  on  the  inconstant  ocean. 

His  experienced  adversary  saw  into  his  character,  and  the  improvement  to 
be  made  of  this  movement;  and  promptly  availed  himself  of  the  advantages 
they  held  out.  It  was  his  intention  to  give  battle ;  but  with  the  chance  of 
victory  he  could  now  combine  the  certain  advantage  of  withdrawing  the 
French  fleet  from  Newport,  whilst  Clinton,  by  the  way  of  Long  Island  and 
the  Sound,  advanced  to  its  relief.  Manoeuvring  with  his  adversary,  ostensibly 
to  get  the  weather  gage,  a  "  sine  qua  non"  of  that  day  among  nautical  men, 
he  drew  him  out  to  sea  several  days'  sail,  and  at  last,  when  the  proper  time 
arrived  for  action  and  the  fleets  approached  to  end  the  contest,  a  furious  gale 
separated,  damaged,  and  scattered  them  over  the  ocean. 

Howe,  made  for  New  York,  D'Estaing,  for  Newport,  and  even  then  the 
golden  opportunity  was  not  lost  had  he  been  disposed  to  improve  it.  For,  his 
fleet,  crippled  as  two  of  his  principal  ships  were,  would  still  have  been  secure 
within  the  fauces  of  the  Bay  of  Narraganset,  against  every  effort  that  could 
have  been  made  against  it;  and  long  before  the  British  fleet  could  have  re 
turned  to  relieve  Newport,  the  place  must  have  fallen.  But  he  pertinaciously 
refused  to  return  to  the  attack,  and  without  entering  die  bay  sailed  away  to 
Boston  to  refit. 

As  soon  as  the  intelligence  from  Europe  rendered  it  probable  that  a  French 
fleet  would  be  on  the  coast  in  the  spring,  General  Washington  had  dispatched 
Sullivan  to  Rhode.  Island  to  take  command  of  a  small  army  of  observation 


110  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  formed  near  Providence,  with  instructions  to  make  a  requisition  on  the  neigh- 
states  for  militia,  and  acquire  all  the  information  necessary  for  an 
attempt  on  Newport.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  expected  fleet,  the  Marquis  La 
Fayette  was  dispatched  with  a  reinforcement  to  join  Sullivan,  and  a  request 
communicated  to  General  Greene  to  make  such  arrangements  in  his  depart 
ment  as  would  admit  of  his  absence  for  the  time  necessary  for  joining  Sullivan 
to  act  against  Newport.  His  local  knowledge,  numerous  connexions,  and 
great  popularity  in  that  country  rendered  this  appointment  peculiarly  proper. 
Accordingly,  as  soon  as  D'Estaing  sailed  from  New  York  to  co-operate  with 
Sullivan,  Greene  proceeded  to  Rhode  Island  and  took  command  of  the  left  of 
the  troops,  then  posted  in  advance  on  the  heights  of  Tiverton.  This  position  is 
separated  from  Aquetnet,  or  Rhode  Island  proper,  hy  a  narrow  channel,  and 
presents  the  greatest  facilities  for  throwing  troops  across  into  die  island,  while 
it  is  in  itself  perfectly  secure  and  commanding. 

Volunteers  soon  crowded  to  his  standard,  from  all  quarters,  and  a  zeal  and 
confidence  prevailed  through  the  camp  which  augured  the  most  happy  conse 
quences. 

On  the  8th  of  August  the  French  fleet  entered  -the  bay  and  anchored  above 
the  reach  of  the  British  batteries;  and  a  plan  of  attack  was  arranged  for  the 
next  day.  In  the  conferences  for  this  purpose  it  soon  appeared  that  the  con 
federates  were  likely  to  be  much  embarrassed  about  points  of  etiquette. 
D'Estaing  held  a  commission  of  lieutenant  general  in  the  land  sen-ice,  as  well 
as  admiral  of  the  fleet.  He  was  therefore  entitled  to  the  command  of  the 
whole  combined  force,  should  he  land  with  his  troops;  and  much  importance 
was  attached  to  the  honour  of  landing  first  when  entering  on  the  attack.  The 
first  difficulty  was  obviated  by  the  admiral's  declining  to  land,  and  requesting 
that  the  command  of  the  French  troops  should  be  assigned  to  La  Fayette; 
and  the  second  obviated,  by  an  agreement  that  both  columns  for  attack  should 
land  simultaneously. 

The  plan  of  the  attack  was,  that  one  division  of  the  American  army,  under 
cover  of  a  frigate,  should  be  thrown  across  below  Tiverton,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  island,  within  the  enemy's  outer  lines;  while  the  French,  and  another 
division  of  Americans  landed  from  their  fleet  on  the  west  side  of  the  island, 
also  within  the  enemy's  outer  line,  and  the  whole  to  proceed  immediately 
against  the  lines  constructed  near  the  town.  If  the  American  account  of  the 
conduct  of  D'Estaing  on  this  occasion  be  correctly  given,  he  certainly  is 
chargeable  with  having  been  captious  and  assuming.  The  command  of  the 
combined  forces  was  tendered  to  him,  and  he  ought  to  have  accepted  it,  or 
ought  not  to  have  insisted  on  dictating  respecting  the  command  of  the  right 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  Ill 

wing.     This  he  did,  and  although  the  high  standing,  unbounded  popularity   CHAP. 
and  real  merit  of  the  Marquis  La  Fayette  made  every  one  willing  to  concede  ^^r>v^^/ 
what  he  could  with  honour,  yet  the  punctilious  pretensions  of  the  count  him 
self  ought  to  have  made  him  respect  the  rights  and  feelings  of  others  on  this 
occasion.     The  propriety  of  delegating  the  command  of  the  French  troops  to 
La  Fayette  was  conceded  by  all ;  but  when  D'Estaing  insisted  that  an  entire 
division  of  the  American  troops  should  act  with  them,  and  the  command  of 
the  whole  be  delegated  to  La  Fayette,  he  certainly  carried  his  pretensions  too 
far  for  one  who  had  declined  the  chief  command. 

The  delicate  and  magnified  point,  concerning  the  party  which  should  land 
first,  probably  in  the  end  proved  the  destruction  of  the  whole  expedition.  A 
party  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  militia  who  were  expected  on  the 
8th,  not  having  arrived,  Sullivan  declined  acting  on  that  day,  and  dispatched 
a  message  with  an  apology  on  the  subject  to  D'Estaing,  appointing  the  next 
for  the  assault. 

In  the  night  of  the  8th,  General  Pigot  perceiving  the  preparations  for  a 
descent,  withdrew  the  troops  that  occupied  his  outer  line,  within  the  lines 
which  defended  the  town.  And  in  the  morning,  as  soon  as  Sullivan  perceived 
this  movement,  he  crossed  his  whole  force  over  into  the  island,  and  occupied 
the  lines  thus  abandoned  by  the  enemy.  This  was  done  without  previously 
consulting  the  French  admiral,  but  was  early  communicated  to  him  by  letter, 
urging  as  excuse,  an  apprehension  that  the  enemy  mi^ht  return  and  re-occupy 
the  lines,  before  Sullivan  could  move  in  force  to  prevent  it.  But  the  admiral 
was  seriously  offended,  and  refused  to  answer  Sullivan's  letter.  That  day, 
which  ought  to  have  been  appropriated  to  act'on,  was  consumed  in  discussion, 
and  the  next,  Lord  Howe  arrived  to  terminate  the  dispute,  and  with  it,  the 
expedition. 

Whatever  apologies  may  be  made  for  Sullivan,  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  he  acted  unadvisedly.  He  had  seen  enough  of  his  noble  colleague  to 
know  that  he  was  to  be  treated  with  wise  precaution;  and  although,  under  any 
circumstances,  an  immediate  necessity  for  action  must  have  excused  him  for 
acting  without  communicating  with  D'Estaing,  it  was  impossible  to  prove  that 
the  case  actually  existing  was  one  of  that  description.  There  was  but  a 
remote,  if  any,  probability  that  the  enemy  would  re-occupy  the  lines  they  had 
abandoned,  and  if  he  did,  the  case  was  but  the  same  concerning  which  the 
previous  arrangements  had  been  made,  and  was  one  which  ought  rather  to 
have  been  desired  than  prevented,  as  it  withdrew  a  part  of  the  force  of  the 
enemy  from  the  main  point  of  attack  to  a  situation  where  they  might  have 
been  easily  amused  with  a  false  attack  whilst  the  principal  one  was  in  pro- 


112  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  gress ;  or  at  least,  would  have  exposed  their  flanks  to  die  allies.     It  was  in  fact 
^^^s^,  an  important  change  of  circumstances,  and  the  American  general's  movement 
was  one  of  magnitude,  on  which  the  French  commander  had  a  right  to  be 
.consulted  before  the  Americans  proceeded  to  act. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  grounds  of  conduct  assigned  by  the  French 
admiral  for  his  subsequent  measure  in  sailing  out  of  the  bay  to  meet  the 
British  fleet,  those  who  are  acquainted  with  die  workings  of  the  human  mind, 
will  ever  suspect  that  the  great  disgust  expressed  by  him  at  Sullivan's  conduct 
was  not  without  its  influence  in  instigating  him  to  act,  in  his  turn,  indepen 
dently  of  the  wishes  and  advice  of  his  associate  in  the  expedition.  Such  feel 
ings  cannot  be  acknowledged  in  explaining  our  motives  for  action,  and  often 
maintain  an  influence  over  our  conduct,  the  full  force  of  which  we  are  our 
selves  unconscious  of. 

The  occurrence  of  this  misunderstanding  gave  the  most  sensible  uneasiness 
to  the  commander  in  chief.  He  had  previously  cautioned  Sullivan  on  the 
subject,  and  pressed  on  him  the  necessity  of  being  very  guarded  in  his  con 
duct. 

By  the  departure  of  the  fleet  on  the  appearance  of  that  of  the  enemy,  die 
situation  of  the  American  army  had  become  embarrassing,  nay,  dangerous. 
Fortunately,  the  British  sliipping  in  the  bay  were  all  destroyed  on  the  approach 
of  the  French,  or  Sullivan's  retreat  would  have  been  impossible.  But  rein 
forcements  might  arrive  from  New- York  by  the  Sound,  in  twenty-four  hours, 
and  involve  him  in  difficulties  from  which  he  could  not  extricate  himself.  To 
carry  Newport  by  storm,  was  impossible.  He  had  but  8,000  men  fit  for  duty, 
more  than  half  of  them  militia,  and  the  enemy  were  six  thousand  strong  and 
Wrell  defended  by  every  work  of  art,  as  well  as  many  natural  advantages. 
And  to  carry  on  a  siege  with  a  body  of  troops,  one  half  of  whom  were  only 
fit  for  desultory  operations,  would  have  been  a  folly.  Yet  the  return  of  the 
fleet  might  hourly  be  expected,  and  to  abandon  the  island  whilst  that  expecta 
tion  remained  was  what  he  could  not  resolve  on. 

Under  every  disadvantage  he  resolved  to  remain;  and  during  ten  days  of 
painful  suspense  he  continued  before  the  town,  making  dispositions  for  a  siege, 
and  anxiously  looking  out  for  the  return  of  the  French.  At  length,  they  made 
their  appearance;  but  what  was  the  chagrin  of  the  troops  when  the  French 
commander  intimated,  that  he  must  immediately  proceed  to  Boston  to  relit. 

Greene  and  La  Fayette  were  immediately  dispatched  to  the  fleet  to  confer 
with  D'Estaing,  and  to  strain  every  nerve  to  persuade  him  to  resume  the 
attack  on  Newport.  Only  two  days'  co-operation  was  solicited,  and  Greene 
pledged  himself,  under  protection  of  the  guns  of  the  fleet,  to  lodge  his  troops 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  113 

within  the  lines  of  the  enemy.     But  D'Estaing  finally  declined,  and  insisted  CHAP. 
that  he  must  depart  for  Boston.  v^-v^ 

It  was  but  a  few  hours  that  Greene  remained  on  board  the  fleet,  but  the 
admiral  had  called  his  officers  together,  and  Greene  had  an  opportunity  to 
discover,  that  D'Estaing  was  not  as  blameable  in  this  affair  as  he  at  first 
appeared  to  be.  From  some  source  of  information  (what,  his  prudence  would 
.never  permit  him  to  communicate)  he  was  able  to  ascertain,  that  a  party  had 
been  formed  by  the  sea  captains  against  their  admiral,  who  was  not  popular 
among  them.  Sailors  have  generally  a  mortal  aversion  to  be  commanded  by 
landsmen,  whom  they  really  esteem  an  inferior  order  of  beings.  D'Estaing, 
it  was  said,  had  been  advanced  by  court  favour  to  a  command  for  which  he 
had  not  been  qualified  by  sen-ice  or  education.  And  it  was  thought  that  this 
party  were  resolved  to  thwart,  and  if  possible,  disgrace  their  commander. 
it  was  the  opinion  of  both  Greene  and  La  Fayette,  that  but  for  this  cause  the. 
admiral  would  not  have  remained  deaf  to  their  arguments,  or  inexorable  to 
their  solicitations. 

The  indignation  and  dismay  which  overspread  die  camp  on  the  return  of 
Greene  and  La  Fayette,  and  their  report  on  the  subject  of  their  mission,  can 
only  be  imagined  by  those  who  have  encountered  defeat  and  disgrace,  in  the 
moment  when  they  merited  and  expected  victory  and  glory.  Another  fruit 
less  attempt  was  made  to  stay  the  fleet,  or  at  least  the  land  forces  on  board  of 
it;  but  disappointment,  aggravated  by  reproach,  increased  the  chagrin  of  the 
Americans. 

D'Estaing  pursued  his  voyage  to  Boston,  and  to  heighten  apprehension, 
information  was  received  that  Clinton  was  rapidly  approaching  from  New 
York.  The  militia  could  no  longer  be  detained;  that  night  they  deserted  with 
such  precipitance,  that  in  the  morning  Sullivan  found  his  force  reduced  to 
barely  five  thousand  men. 

In  the  night,  of  the  28th  of  August  the  camp  of  the  American  army  was 
broken  up,  and  with  the  utmost  silence  and  order,  the  whole  army  retreated  to 
seek  the  protection  of  two  redoubts  which  had  been  prudently  constructed  on 
the  north  end  of  the  island.  In  the  morning,  as  soon  as  the  enemy  discovered 
this  movement  of  the  Americans,  they  commenced  a  pursuit,  in  t\vo  columns. 
Greene  covered  the  retreat  of  the  American  army;  under  the  gallant  conduct 
of  Colonels  Livingston  and  Laurens,  whose  regiments  composed  his  rear 
guard,  the  whole  army  reached  their  point  of  destination,  and  drew  up  in 
order  of  battle.  Greene  commanded  on  the  right,  and  from  a  redoubt  in  his 
front  a  cannonading  was  kept  up  upon  the  enemy  throughout  the  day,  whilst 

15 


[14  -    .  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

*  .      * 

CHAP,  it  was  warmly  returned  from  a  hill  called  Quaker  Hill,  on  which  the  encmy 
>x^x^  were  drawn  up  in  front  of  the  Americans. 

From  Newport  towards  the  north  end  of  the  island,  there  are  two  roads 
which  communicate  with  each  other  near  the  north  end.  The  two  redoubts 
constructed  by  the  Americans,  commanded  the  junction  of  these  roads,  and 
the  communication  with  the  main.  By  these  two  roads  the  two  armies  had 
marched  in  column,  the  one  in  retreat,  the  other  in  pursuit. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  enemy  advanced  upon  the  western 
most  of  these  roads,  and  indicated  a  design  to  turn  the  American  right.  Rein 
forcements  were  ordered  up  to  the  support  of  that  wing,  and  the  action  soon 
became  warm  and  bloody.  About  one  half  of  the  American  army  sustained 
the  whole  pressure  of  the  attack.  The  numbers  actually  engaged  were  nearly 
two  to  one  against  the  Americans.  But  they  sustained  it  with  the  coolness 
and  recollection  of  experienced  veterans.  Greene  had  under  him  a  number 
*of  most  gallant  officers ;  and  most  of  the  men  had  partaken  of  the  discipline 
of  the  Valley  Forge.  It  would  be  superfluous  to  say  any  thing  of  the  conduct 
of  their  commander.  He  was  in  sight  of  the  place  of  his  nativity,  and  of 
thousands  of  his  countrymen  and  friends,  who  anxiously  lined  the  surrounding 
eminences. 

The  enemy  were  repulsed  with  slaughter.  But  they,  too,  were  disciplined 
soldiers,  and  retreated  in  order,  to  the  hill  from  which  they  had  descended  to 
the  attack.  Partial  as  this  engagement  was,  and  comparatively  small  as  were 
the  numbers  engaged,  the  loss  was  equal  to  that  of  the  hard-fought  day  at 
Monmouth.  Greene  appears  to  have  been  scarcely  able  to  find  language  to 
express  his  sense  of  the  conduct  of  his  men  and  officers,  and  their  enemies 
bestow  on  them  a  justly  merited  encomium.  "  Though  he  was  most  vigo 
rously  pursued  and  repeatedly  attacked,"  say  they,  "  in  every  quarter  wher 
ever  an  opening  was  made,  yet  he  took  his  measures  so  well,  and  had  chosen 
his  posts  so  judiciously,  that  although  much  honour  was  claimed  and  deserved 
on  both  sides,  he  gained  the  north  end  of  the  island  without  sustaining  any 
considerable  loss." 

Baggage,  stores,  ammunition,  artillery,  every  thing  was  conveyed  over  that 
night  from  the  island,  and  the  next  day  Sir  Henry  Clinton  arrived,  with  a 
force  that  would  have  baffled  all  the  bravery  and  self-devotion  of  a  much 
superioiu*  corps.  Oue  day  more,  and  they  could  not  have  escaped  from  the 
island. 

Being  now  once  more  encamped  in  security,  they  had  time  to  brood  over 
the  conduct  of  their  allies;  and  it  was  plainly  perceivable,  that  mutual  irrita 
tion  had  risen  to  a  most  alarming  height.  Sullivan,  goaded  by  chagrin  and 


>IAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  .11 

disappointment,  of  a  temperament  rather  warm,  and  under  the  influence  of  a   CITAP. 
deep  and  just  sense  of  injury,  had,  in  general  orders  of  the  28th,  expressed  a  ^,  '^ 
hope,  "  that  the  event  would  prove  America  able  to  procure  that  by  her  own 
arms,  which  her  allies  refuse  to  assist  in  obtaining;"  and,  together  with  every 
officer  under  his  command,  excepting  La  Fayette,  (and  we  believe  Greene,) 
had  unwisely  dispatched  to  the  admiral,  a  protest  against  his  conduct,  in  lan 
guage  but  little  calculated  to  soothe  the  feelings  of  that  officer,  —  piqued  as  he 
had  been  by  Sullivan's  invasion  of  the  island,  and  irritated  by  the  disasters 
that  followed  upon  his  abandoning  the  army  at  the  most  interesting  crisis. 

General  Washington,  congress,  and  every  thinking  man  in  the  country  fore 
saw  the  fatal  consequences  that  would  ensue  upon  an  irreparable  breach  with 
our  new  ally;  and  the  most  judicioi'3  and  unremitted  efforts  were  pursued,  to 
allay  the  ferment  and  restore  confidence  and  harmony. 

The  part  which  our  hero  was  called  upon  to  act,  on  this  occasion,  will 
appear  from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  written  to  him  by  General  Wash 
ington,  on  this  subject:  "  I  have  not  now  time  to  take  notice  of  the  several 
arguments  that  were  made  use  of  for  and  against  the  count's  quitting  the  har 
bour  of  Newport  and  sailing  to  Boston;  right  or  wrong,  it  will  probably  dis 
appoint  our  sanguine  expectations  of  success;  and  what  I  deem  a  still  worse 
consequence,  I  fear  it  will  sow  the  seeds  of  disunion  and  distrust  between  us 
and  our  new  allies,  unless  the  most  prudent  measures  are  taken  to  suppress  the 
feuds  and  jealousies  that  have  already  risen.  I  depend  much  on  your  temper 
and  influence  to  conciliate  that  animosity  which  I  plainly  perceive,  by  a  letter 
from  the  marquis,  subsists  between  the  American  and  French  officers  in  our 
service.  This,  you  may  be  assured,  will  extend  itself  to  the  count  and  the 
officers  and  men  of  his  whole  fleet,  should  they  return  to  Rhode  Island,  unless 
a  reconciliation  should  have  taken  place.  The  marquis  speaks  kindly  of  a 
letter  from  you  to  him,  on  this  subject.  He  will,  therefore,  take  any  advice 
from  you  in  a  friendly  way,  and  if  he  can  be  pacified,  the  other  French  gentle 
men  will,  of  course,  be  satisfied  ;  since  they  look  up  to  him  as  their  head. 
The  marquis  grounds  his  complaint  on  a  general  order  of  the  28th  of  August, 
and  upon  the  universal  clamour  that  prevailed  against  the  French  nation. 

"  I  beg  you  will  take  every  measure  to  keep  the  protest  entered  into  by  the 
general  officers  from  being  made  public.  Congress,  sensible  of  the  ill  conse 
quences  that  will  flow  from  our  differences  being  known  to  the  world,  have 
passed  a  resolve  to  that  purpose.  Upon  the  whole,  my  dear  sir,  you  can  con 
ceive  my  meaning  better  than  lean  express  it;  and  I  therefore,  fully  depend  on 
your  exerting  yourself  to  heal  all  private  animosities  between  our  principal 


116  .  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  officers  and  the  French,  and  to  prevent  all  illiberal  expressions  and  reflection* 
^~v~^ tnat  may  &!!  n'om  the  tinny  at  large." 

Nor  was  this  confidence  misplaced.  His  personal  influence  with  the  mar 
quis  was  great,  and  could  be  exerted  with  more  of  the  freedom  and  familiarity 
of  a  friend  than  that  of  Washington,  though  certainly  not  with  the  same 
parental  weight.  And  the  dignified,  dispassionate,  yet  respectful  deportment 
that  he  had  exhibited  to  D'Estaing,  in  the  personal  conference  between  them, 
had  given  him  a  standing  with  that  gentleman,  which  successfully  promoted 
his  efforts  at  conciliation.  With  the  American  officers,  after  the  first  ebullitions 
of  passion,  the  task  was  not  difficult;  for  theirs  was  a  system  of  sacrifices  to 
the  country's  good.  And  with  congress,  a  signal  opportunity  not  long  after 
wards  wras  presented  to  him  of  showing  his  prudence  and  promptness  in 
promoting  the  views  of  the  man  whom  he  respected  above  all  others ;  and  his 
own,  as  previously  exhibited  in  his  letter  to  the  marquis  alluded  to  in  that  of 
Washington. 

The  endearments  of  a  wife  whom  he  loved,  and  who  had  now  presented 
him  with  two  fine  children,  the  pleasant  places  of  his  early  youth,  and  caresses 
of  relations  and  friends  who  idolized  him,  were  ineffectual  to  detain  him  from 
the  pressing  dudes  that  called  him  to  head  quarters.  His  presence  was  no 
longer  necessary  in  the  army  under  Sullivan ;  it  was  only  when  battle  ap 
proached  that  his  stipulation  with  Washington  admitted  of  his  absence  from 
the  connecting  point  of  his  operations  as  quarter-master-general;  and  he  soon 
joined  the  commander  in  chief  at  his  camp  near  the  White  Plains. 

The  murmurs  in  congress  relative  to  the  failure  of  the  expedition  against 
Rhode  Island,  at  this  time,  were  low,  but  portentous.  An  inquiry  seemed  to 
be  required  by  public  opinion,  and  a  resolution  to  that  effect  was  brought  into 
congress,  but  wisely  waved  by  the  previous  question.  Vet  it  was  privately 
much  desired,  that  means  of  information  of  an  unofficial  nature  could  be 
afforded;  and  as  Greene's  commission  of  quarter-master-general  furnished  the 
most  plausible  grounds  for  his  visiting  the  seat  of  government,  he  repaired  to 
that  place  at  Washington's  request,  and  his  arrival  was  reported  to  congress. 
Immediately  an  unanimous  vote  was  passed,  that  he  should  be  invited  to  a 
seat  on  the  floor,  and  in  pursuance  of  it,  he  \vas  shown  to  a  chair  beside  the 
president. 

Colonel  Henry  Laurens  then  filled  that  chair;  and  but  a  few  minutes 
elapsed  after  Greene  had  taken  his  scat,  before  the  arrival  of  a  communication 
from  the  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  was  announced,  and  an  order  passed  tho.t 
it  be  read.  Wrhilst  the  clerk  was  preparing  to  open  and  read  this  communica 
tion  aloud,  Greene,  who  had  a  suspicion  of  its  contents  from  some  previous 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  117 

intimation,  wrote  on  a  scrap  of  paper  which  he  handed  up  to  the  president,   CHAP. 
"  For  God's  sake,  do  not  read  that  paper  aloud,  until  you  have  looked  it  over."  ^^-^^ 
A  whisper  from  the  president  to  the  clerk  arrested  his  progress,  and  another 
whisper  passed  round  to  the  members,  an  explanation  which  produced  a  call 
for  the  order  of  the  day.     Thus  a  remonstrance  against  the  conduct  of  D'Es- 
taing,  which  could  not  have  failed  to  give  the  greatest  umbrage  to  that  officer, 
and  to  several  others  of  the  first  respectability  who  chanced  then  to  be  present 
in  the  gallery  and  lobby ;  to  the  minister  of  France  then  residing  in  Philadel 
phia,  and  perhaps  to  their  sovereign  and  the  nation  at  large,  was  most  judi 
ciously  suppressed. 

But  Greene's  zeal  in  the  public  service  did  not  permit  him  to  return  to 
head  quarters,  until  he  had  accompanied  the  Marquis  De  La  Fayette  on  a 
risk  to  D'Estaing  at  Boston,  to  promote  the  interesting  work  of  national 
reconciliation.  The  following  letter  to  General  Greene  from  the  count  will 
show  that  the  effort  was  crowned  with  success,  while  it  exhibits  that  officer's 
idea  of  the  causes  of  umbrage  that  had  been  afforded  by  the  conduct  of  Gene 
ral  Sullivan. 

"  BOSTON  ROAD,  October  1st,  1778. 

"SIR, 

"  The  letter  which  your  excellency  did  me  the  honour  of  writing  to  me 
when  you  were  leaving  Boston,  was  of  a  nature  to  console  me  for  the  little 
irregularities  which  you  perceived  in  General  Sullivan's .  letter,  which  I  took 
the  liberty  of  communicating  to  you,  upon  receiving  it.  It  is  from  you,  and 
what  you  are,  that  it  is  doubtless  suitable  and  flattering  to  judge  of  the  respect 
able  and  amiable  qualities  of  the  American  general  officers  whom  I  have  not 
the  honour  of  knowing  by  correspondence  or  personally :  it  is  with  cordial 
warmth  that  I  render  homage  to  truth  in  assuring  you,  that  on  every  occasion, 
I  have  had  reason  to  admire  their  zeal  and  talents,  and  to  feel  personal  satis 
faction  for  their  behaviour  with  regard  to  me;  and  to  add  to  the  motives  of 
duty  those  of  inclination  and  attachment,  which  I  shall  always  profess  to  have 
for  them.  I  shall  be  enchanted  if  the  assurance  and  the  homage  of  these  sen 
timents  appear  to  you  of  any  value. 

"  With  respect  to  the  conduct  more  or  less  moderate,  that  General  Sullivan 
seems  to  have  adopted  in  his  literary  commerce  with  me;  as  a  zeal  and  devotion 
for  the  common  cause  which  I  glory  in,  had  engaged  me  to  style  him  my 
general,  he  avails  himself  of  the  privileges  which  this  title  gives;  beginning,  as 
you  saw  in  his  letter,  by  scolding  me  unjustly,  and  finishing  by  telling  me  in 
confidence,  that  he  lias  rivals  whom  he  supposes  his  enemies.  This  mixture 


H8  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  of  chagrin  and  confidence  being  confined  personally  to  me,  did  not  offend  me; 
v^v^,  there  is  another  more  important  article,  and  which  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  pass 
in  silence — I  mean  the  obstinacy  which  General  Sullivan  exhibits  in  national 
imputation,  and  the  abuse  of  his  place  in  filling  incessantly  the  public  papers 
which  are  under  his  direction,  with  things  w.hich  might,  at  length,  create  ill 
blood  between  the  individuals  of  two  nations  who  are  and  ought  to  be  united. 
It  is  wounding  their  interests  in  a  capital  manner  to  dare,  by  indiscretion  or 
passion,  to  foment  what  ought  to  be  extinguished,  if  it  exist.  I  have  been 
obliged  lately  to  entreat  General  Sullivan  to  reflect  on  this  subject.  In  doing 
it,  I  observed  all  the  deference  that  was  due  to  him ;  but  my  quality  as  a  public 
person,  and  that  of  his  well  wisher,  equally  imposed  this  law  on  me. 

"  I  hope  that  your  excellency  and  your  respectable  colleagues  will  not 
disapprove  my  conduct.  To  merit  that  it  should  please  them,  will  ever  be  one 
of  my  desires,  as  well  as  to  prove  to  you  particularly,  all  the  consideration 
which  I  have  for  you  and  them,  and  the  respect  with  which  I  have  the  honour 
of  being, 

"  Sir,  your  excellency's 

'*  Most  humble  and  most  obedient  sen-ant." 

Upon  the  retreat  of  Sullivan  from  Rhode  Island,  there  were  many,  and 
among  them  some  men  of  high  standing,  who  loudly  expressed  their  disappro 
bation  of  his  conduct.  Among  these,  was  the  late  Mr.  John  Browne,  whose 
influence  in  that  community  as  a  man  of  wealth,  intelligence,  and  public  spirit, 
and  one  who  had  filled  many  high  offices,  was  very  great.  The  following 
generous  vindication  of  the  conduct  of  his  commander,  from  the  pen  of 
Greene,  will  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader. 


"COVENTRY,  September  lltii,  1778. 

«  SIR, 

"  In  all  republican  governments,  every  person  that  acts  in  a  public  capa 
city  must  naturally  expect  to  have  observations  and  strictures  upon  his  conduct. 
This  is  a  tax  generally  laid  by  all  free  governments  upon  their  officers,  either 
civil  or  military,  however  meritorious.  I  am  not  surprised,  therefore,  to  hear 
the  late  unsuccessful  expedition  against  Newport,  fall  under  some  degree  of 
censure;  but  I  must  confess  I  am  not  a  little  astonished  to  hear  such  a  princi 
pal  character  in  society  as  you,  throw  out  such  illiberal  sentiments  against  a 
gentleman's  conduct,  merely  because  he  took  his  measures  different  from  your 
opinion. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  119 

"  This  expedition  was  planned  upon  no  other  consideration  than  that  of  the   CHAP. 
French  fleet's  co-operating  with  the  American  troops.     The  strength  of  the  v^-v^w 
garrison  was  considered,  and  a  force  ordered  to  be  levied  accordingly,  that 
might  be  sufficient  to  complete  its  reduction.     In  forming  the  estimate,  there 
was  the  aid  of  the  fleet  and  the  assistance  of  3,500  French  forces  that  were  on 
board  the  fleet,  taken  into  consideration. 

"  The  loss  of  this  force  with  that  of  the  aid  of  the  French  fleet,  was  a  suffi 
cient  reason  for  abandoning  the  expedition.  You  say,  you  think  the  expedi 
tion  was  ill  planned  and  worse  conducted.  In  the  first  place,  that  the  forces 
were  drawn  together  at  an  improper  place.  I  must  beg  leave  to  dissent  from 
you  in  opinion.  Was  there  any  time  lost  by  the  continental  troops  coming  to 
Providence?  There  was  riot;  for  all  got  together  some  days  before  the  militia. 
Would  it  not  have  been  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  have  brought 
the  forces  to  have  acted  in  concert  with  each  other,  one  body  at  Tiverton,  and 
the  other  at  Boston  Neck  ?*  And  divided  as  they  were,  both  parties  would 
have  been  unequal  to  the  descent.  If  either  party  was  sufficient  of  itself, 
then  the  other  part  was  superfluous.  Besides  the  objection  of  a  division  of 
forces,  and  the  distance  they  would  be  apart,  there  are  two  other  objections 
against  the  measure.  One  is,  the  difficulty  of  embarking  troops  from  that 
rugged  shore;  the  delays  that  storms  and  high  winds  might  produce;  the 
accidents  that  might  happen  in  crossing  where  there  is  such  a  large  swell 
going;  and  the  languor  that  a  sea-sickness  might  produce  among  the  men.. 
The  other  is,  there  were  no  stores  or  magazines  of  any  kind  at  South  Kings 
ton  to  equip  and  furnish  the  troops  for  the  attempt;  besides  which,  it  was 
necessary  for  the  general  to  have  all  his  troops  together,  that  he  might  select 
such  officers  and  men  as  were  most  suitable  for  the  entcrprize. 

"  If  the  troops  had  been  collected  at  South  Kingston,  it  would  have  too  fully 
explained  our  intention,  and  put  the  enemy  on  their  guard;  whereas  landing 
on  the  north  end  of  the  island,  led  the  enemy  into  the  belief,  that  we  intended 
to  carry  the  garrison  by  regular  approaches,  which  would  have  given  us  an 
opportunity  of  re-embarking  the  troops  and  landing  upon  the  south  part  of 
the  island,  without  .being  mistrusted.  This  was  the  plan  of  attack,  and  it 
must  have  succeeded  had  our  strength  been  sufficient,  and  the  disembarkation 
countenanced  by  the  fleet. 

"You  cannot  suppose  that  General  Sullivan  wants  spirit  or  ambition  to 
attempt  any  thing  that  reason  or  common  sense  can  justify.  It  is  the  business 


A  measure,  ft  seems,  pressed  by  Mr.  Browne. 


120  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  of  every  general  officer  that  is  desirous  of  distinguishing  himself,  to  court  all 
^^l^  opportunities  to  engage  with  the  enemy,  when  the  situation  and  condition  of 
his  own  forces,  and  that  of  theirs,  wiJl  admit  of  it.     But  the  safety  of  our 
country  is  a  greater  ohject  witli  every  man  of  principle  than  personal  glory'. 

"  Before  a  general  officer  engages  in  any  hazardous  enterprize,  he  should 
Veil  consider  the  consequences  of  success  and  failure;  whether  the  circum 
stances  of  the  community  will  not  render  one  infinitely  more  prejudicial,  than 
the  other  can  be  beneficial ;  the  strength  and  quality  of  the  troops  should  be 
considered  that  you  are  about  to  attack — how  they  can  be  approached,  and  by 
what  means  you  can  secure  a  retreat.  Then  you  have  to  take  into  considera 
tion  the  number  and  quality  of  your  own  troops — how  they  are  found — what 
temper  they  are  of— -whether  they  are  regular  or  irregular,  and  how  they  are 
officered;  even  the  wind  and  weather  are  sometimes  necessary  considerations, 
and  not  to  be  neglected. 

"  I  have  heard  some  people  foolish  enough  to  suppose,  that  it  was  only 
necessary  for  a  general  to  lead  on  his  forces,  in  order  to  secure  success,  without 
regard  to  the  strength  or  situation  of  the  enemy,  or  the  number  or  goodness 
of  his  own  troops.  Those  that  have  often  been  in  action  can  only  judge  what 
is  to  be  expected  of  good,  bad,  and  indifferent  troops.  Men  are  often  struck 
with  panics,  and  they  are  generally  subject  to  that  passion  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  according  as  the  force  of  discipline  has  formed  the  mind  by  habit  to 
meet  danger  and  death.  I  dare  say  that  many  a  man  has  gone  from  home 
with  a  determined  resolution  to  meet  the  enemy,  that  has  shamefully  quitted 
the  field  for  the  want  of  habitual  fortitude.  Men  often  feel  courageous  at  a 
distance  from  danger,  who  faint  through  fear  when  they  come  to  be  exposed. 
Pride  and  sentiment  support  the  officer,  habit  and  enthusiasm  the  soldier; 
without  these,  there  is  no  safe  reliance  upon  men. 

"  I  remember  you  recommended  an  attempt  to  effect  a  landing  upon  the 
south  part  of  the  island,  the  night  we  returned  from  the  fleet.  But  I  could  not 
possibly  suppose  you  to  be  serious,  because  \ve  could  not  possibly  get  the  boats 
round,  draw  out  the  men  and  officers  proper  for  the  descent,  and  effect  a  land 
ing  before  day.  It  was,  therefore,  impracticable,  if  it  had  been  ever  so  eligible. 
But  I  am  far  from  thinking,  under  our  circumstances,  the  measure  would  have 
been  justifiable  by  reason  or  common  sense,  in  a  common  view,  much  less  by 
military  maxims.  The  day  after  the  fleet  sailed,  such  a  great  change  took 
place  in  the  two  armies,  particularly  in  ours,  whose  spirits  all  sunk  upon  the 
departure  of  the  fleet,  (except  the  few  regular  troops,  and  it  had  its  effect  upon 
them,)  that  nothing  could  be  attempted  with  the  hopes  of  success.  The  garri- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  121 

son  at  Newport  that  before  gave  themselves  up  for  lost,  now  collected  new 
courage,  and  would  have  defended  themselves  with  double  obstinacy. 

"  Suppose  General  Sullivan  had  attempted  a  landing  and  actually  effected 
it,  and  the  garrison  had  defeated  his  troops,  what  would  have  been  the  conse 
quence?  The  whole  would  have  been  made  prisoners,  and  not  only  the  party 
that  landed,  but  all  those  who  remained  in  camp,  with  all  our  stores  of  every 
kind.  Was  the  object  important  enough  for  such  a  risk?  Was  the  chance 
equal  of  our  succeeding?  Every  one  who  will  suffer  himself  to  reflect  a 
moment  will  readily  agree,  that  neither  the  importance  of  the  object,  nor 
the  chance  of  succeeding,  would  have  warranted  the  attempt.  It  must  be 
confessed,  that  the  loss  of  such  a  garrison  would  have  given  the  British  army 
a  deadly  wound,  but  the  capture  of  our  army  would  have  put  our  cause  in 
jeopardy.  Remember  the  effect  that  the  loss  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Washing 
ton  had:  there  were  men  enough  to  have  defended  themselves  against  all  the 
army  had  they  not  been  struck  with  a  panic;  but  being  most  of  them  irregular 
troops,  they  lost  all  their  confidence  when  the  danger  began  to  grow  pressing; 
and  so  fell  a  prey  to  their  own  fears. 

"  But  when  you  take  into  consideration  the  little  prospect  of  our  effecting  a 
landing  where  there  were  batteries  almost  all  around  the  shores,  and  cutters  to 

O 

intercept  any  attempt,  witn  guard-boats  to  make  discoveries,  the  measure 
would  look  more  like  madness,  than  rational  conduct. 

"There  was  another  objection  to  the  measure;  that  was,  our  force  was 
unequal  to  the  attempt — the  party  detached  to  make  the  landing  should  have 
been  superior  to  the  whole  garrison;  the  remaining  part  left  in  camp  to  cover 
the  stores,  and  co-operate  occasionally  with  the  detachment  after  they  had 
effected  a  landing,  should  have  been  equally  strong.  For,  both  being  so  cir 
cumstanced  as"  to  render  it  necessary  to  be  able,  independent  of  each  other,  to 
resist  the  whole  British  garrison;  if  either  had  been  deficient,  :t  might  have 
proved  the  ruin  of  all.  If  the  party  that  was  landed  had  not  been  superior  to 
the  garrison,  they  would  have  been  defeated,  and  not  having  any  ships  to 
cover  their  retreat,  all  would  have  been  lost.  Or  if,  during  the  embarkation 
the  garrison  had  sallied,  the  troops  left  in  camp  would  have  been  put  to  the 
rout,  and  nearly  the  whole  have  been  made  prisoners,  and  all  our  cannon  and 
stores  would  have  fallen  into  the  enemy's  hands. 

"  These  are  common  and  probable  events  in  war,  and  to  be  guarded  against 
accordingly.  The  garrison  at  Newport  was  generally  thought  to  be  6,000 
strong,  including  sailors;  our  force  amounted  to  9,000  at  most;  indeed,  the 
field  returns  made  it  but  8,174,  and  the  much  greater  part  of  these,  militia; 
but  I  would  swell  it  to  the  utmost  extent,  and  still  von  will  see  it  will  fall  fur 

16 


122  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

• 

.CHAP,  short  of  the*  necessary  number  to  warrant  the  measure,  even  supposing  ours  to 

been  all  regular  troops. 

"  Here  I  cannot  help  remarking,  that  some  people  seem  desirous  of  deceiv 
ing  themselves  with  regard  to  our  strength.  They  rather  incline  to  credit  the 
votes  of  assembly,  and  the  resolves  of  councils  of  war  with  regard  to  numbers, 
than  returns  actually  taken  on  the  ground.  Would  not  a  general  officer  be  a 
fool  to  take  a  measure  from  numbers  voted  him  for  an  expedition,  without 
examining  them,  to  see  how  they  agreed  with  his  actual  force  fit  for  duty? 
Some,  I  hear,  assert  that  our  strength  must  have  been  much  greater  than 
our  returns,  from  the  number  of  rations  that  were  drawn.  I  remember  very 
well  last  winter  at  Valley  Forge,  our  army  drew  32,000  rations,  when  the 
most  we  could  muster  fit  for  duty  was  about  7,500.  In  all  irregular  armies 
there  will  be  generally  one  third  more  rations  drawn,  than  in  a  well  appointed 
one,  to  have  the  same  strength  on  the  ground.  Therefore,  there  can  be  no  safe 
conclusion  drawn  from  the  circumstance  of  the  rations;  their  being  either 
greater  or  less,  .is  no  certain  evidence  of  the  real  strength  of  an  army. 

"I  am  further  informed,  you  think  this  expedition  has  been  the  worst  con 
certed,  and  most  disgracefully  executed,  of  any  one  during  the  war.  I  must 
confess  I  differ  widely  from  you  in  opinion.  I  think  it  prudently  concerted, 
and  honourably,  as  well  as  faithfully  executed.  If  the  general  had  attempted 
to  storm  the  lines  in  common  form,  he  would  have  met  with  a  disgraceful 
defeat.  Some  people  are  foolish  enough  to  think  that  because  the  northern 
army  carried  Burgoyne's  lines,  that  these  might  have  been  attempted  with 
equal  success,  not  adverting  to  the  difference  of  circumstances.  These  lines 
were  ten  times  as  strong  as  those  of  Burgoyne's;  besides  which,  the  enemy 
came  out  of  their  works  there,  and  our  people  drove  diem  back  again,  and 
entered  pell  mcll  with  them.  Burgoyne's  force  was  much  less  than  this  garri 
son,  his  troops  much  dispirited,  the  army  that  surrounded  him  more  than  as 
strong  again  in  regular  troops  as  ours. 

"  Remember  the  loss  of  the  British  army  before  Ticondcroga,  last  war,  in 
attempting  to  storm  lines,  inconsiderable  when  compared  to  the  fortifications 
at  Newport,  and  defended  with  a  less  number  of  men  in  die  works  than  were 
here.  Recollect  the  fate  of  the  British  army  at  Bunker's  hill,  attacking  slight 
works  defended  by  new  levied  troops.  Consider  the  disgrace  and  defeat  that 
happened  to  the  Hessians  upon  the  attack  of  the  inconsiderable  redoubt  at 
Red  Bank,  and  then  form  a  judgment  what  prospect  General  Sullivan  had  of 
success  in  making  an  attack  with  an  army  composed  chiefly  of  militia,  upon 
a  garrison  as  strong  as  that  at  Newport,  consisting  almost  wholly  of  regular 
troops,  and  fortified  so  securely  as  they  were.  There  was  but  one  possible 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  123 

mode  of  attack — by  storm,  which  was  proposed  to  the  general ;  but  the  men   cn.vr. 
necessary  for  the  attempt  could  not  be  found,  and,  consequently,  the  attack  >^NU^» 
could  not  be  made.  .  * 

"  I  am  told  you  censure  General  Sullivan  for  not  bringing  on  a  general 
action,  and  urge  my  opinion  as  a'  proof  of  the  propriety.  I  remember  you 
asked  me,  why  there  had  not  been  a  general  action,  when  you  were  on  the 
island,  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the  battle.  I  told  you,  I  had  advised  one  in  the 
morning,  but  that  I  believed  die  general  had  taken  the  more  prudent  measure. 
He  had  fought  them  by  detachment,  defeated  and  disgraced  them,  without 
running  any  great  risk. 

*'  Our  numbers,  at  the  time  we  left  the  enemy's  lines,  were  not  much  supe 
rior  to  the  garrison ;  we  know  they  expected  a  reinforcement  hourly.  Had 
any  considerable  force  arrived  the  night  we  retreated,  landed,  and  marched  out 
with  the  old  garrison,  we  should  have  met  with  a  defeat.  The  smallness  of 
our  numbers,  the  dispirited  state  all  troops  are  in  on  a  retreat,  together  with 
the  probability  of  the  enemy's  having  received  a  reinforcement,  determined 
the  general  not  to  risk  a  general  action,  when  he  was  sure  of  an  advantage  in 
a  partial  one,  and  by  risking  a  general  one,  he  exposed  the  whole  of  his  troops 
to  certain  ruin  on  a  defeat  He  thought  die  other  measure  most  advisable, 
and  I  think  so  too,  upon  cool  reflection,  although  I  thought  otherwise  at  the 
time. 

"  I  have  seen  as  much  service  almost,  as  any  man  in  the  American  army  ; 
and  have  been  in  as  many,  or  more  engagements  than  any  one.  I  know  the 
character  of  all  our  general  officers  as  well  as  any  one,  and  if  I  am  any  judge, 
the  expedition  has  been  prudently  and  well  conducted,  and  I  am  confident 
there  is  not  a  general  officer,  from  the  commander  in  chief  to  the  youngest  in 
the  field,  who  would  have  gone  greater  lengdis  to  have  given  success  to  the 
expedition  than  General  Sullivan.  He  is  sensible,  active,  ambitious,  brave 
and  persevering  in  his  temper,  and  the  object  was  sufficiently  important  to 
make  him  despise  every  difficulty  opposed  to  his  success,  as  far  as  he  was  at 
liberty  to  consult  his  reputation ;  but  the  public  good  is  of  higher  importance 
than  personal  glory ;  and  the  one  is  not  to  be  gratified  at  the  risk  and  expense 
of  the  other. 

"  I  recollect  your  observations  to  me  on  board  the  fleet — that  the  reputation 
of  die  principal  officers  depended  upon  the  success  of  the  expedition.  I  have 
long  since  learned  to  despise  vulgar  prejudices,  and  to  regulate  my  conduct  by 
maxims  more  noble  than  popular  sentiment.  I  have  an  honest  ambition  of 
meriting  the  approbation  of  the  public,  but  I  will  never  go  contrary  to  my 
judgment,  or  violate  my  honour  or  conscience  for  a  temporary  salute. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

"  If  congress,  or  any  particular  state,  who  entrusts  their  troops  under  my 
command,  thinks  proper  to  give  orders  to  run  all  risks  and  hazards  to  carry  a 
point,  I  would  cheerfully  lead  on  die  men;  but  when  it  is  left  discretionary,  I 
must  act  agreeably  to  the  dictates  of  my  own  judgment. 

"  People,  from  consulting  their  wishes  rather  than  their  reason,  and  by  form 
ing  a  character  of  the  spirit  and  firmness  of  irregular  troops  more  from  gene 
ral  orders  sounding  their  praise,  than  from  any  particular  knowledge  of  their 
conduct,  are  led  to  expect  more  from  such  troops,  than  is  in  the  power  of  any 
person  to  effect  with  them. 

"  I  would  just  remark  one  thing  further  to  you,  that  an  attack  with  militia, 
in  an  open  country  where  they  could  get  off  upon  a  defeat,  might  be  very 
prudent,  which  would  be  very  rash  and  unwarrantable  upon  an  island. 

"  I  have  .written  thus  much  in  justification  of  a  person's  character  whom  1 
esteem  a  good  officer,  and  who,  I  think,  is  much  more  deserving  your  thanks 
than  reproach,  and  that  of  the  public  also.  With  regard  to  myself,  it  was 
unnecessary  for  me  to  say  any  thing  in  justification  of  the  measure  of  collect 
ing  the  troops  at  Providence,  because  I  had  no  voice  in  it;  neither  was  I 
opposed  to  a  storm,  providing  a  proper  number  of  men  of  a  suitable  quality 
could  be  found  for  the  attempt.  My  advice  for  a  general  action,  I  think  was 
wrong;  and  the  retreat  that  followed,  every  body  must  allow  was  necessary  > 
«nd  that  it  was  well  conducted. 

"  I  have  been  told  that  your  brother  Nicholas  let  fall  some  ungenerous 
insinuations  with  regard  to  me,  a  few  days  before  the  action  upon  the  island. 

"  These  are  the  rewards  and  gracious  returns  I  am  to  expect,  for  years  of 
hard  and  dangerous  service,  where  every  sacrifice  of  interest,  ease,  and  domes 
tic  pleasure,  has  been  given  up  to  the  service  of  my  country.  But  I  flatter 
myself  I  am  not  dependent  on  the  state  of  Rhode  Island  for  either  my  charac 
ter  or  consequence  in  life.  However,  I  cannot  help  feeling  mortified,  that 
those  who  have  been  at  home  making  their  fortunes,  and  living  in  the  lap  of 
luxury  and  enjoying  all  the  pleasures  of  a  domestic  life,  should  be  the  first  to 
sport  with  the  feelings  of  officers  who  have  stood  as  a  barrier  between  them 

and  ruin. 

"  I  anV'  Sec. 

The  year  1778  terminated  without  any  other  event  to  call  the  talents  or 
patriotism  of  Greene  into  requisition.  The  British  army  under  Clinton  had 
returned  to  New  York,  after  the  retreat  of  Sullivan ;  and  from  this  time  to  the 
close  of  the  war,  the  enemy  appear  to  have  relinquished  all  hopes  of  effecting 
a  conquest  of  the  states,  north  of  the  Chesapeake.  But  die  hope  was  relin- 


•  A 

«     ,          •*> 

*» 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  *  i*2i 

quished  with  evidences  of  disappointment  and  irritation  that  did  but  little  CHAP. 
honour  to  the  British  arms.  The  predatory  expeditions  occasionally  under-  ^—l^. 
taken  from  this,  time,  were  distinguished  only  by  rapine,  conflagrations  and 
murders.  Until  the  arrival  of  the  French  to  the  aid  of  America,  or  perhaps 
until  the  recall  of  Howe  and  substitution  of  Clinton,' the  war  had  been  con 
ducted  in  a  style  honourable  to  the  British  nation.  With  the  exception  of  the 
burning  of  Esopus,  and  some  other  irregularities  committed  on  the  same  expedi 
tion,  the  enemy  had  not  been  charged  with  inhumanity,  or  a  deviation  from 
the  practices  of  civilized  warfare,  in  any  other  particular  than  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  on  board  their  prison  ships.  This  was,  indeed,  horrible,  from  the 
American  account;  but  the  enemy  urged  many  circumstances  in  extenuation 
of  the  charge.  From  this  time,  wherever  they  advanced  they  were  to  be 
tracked  by  blood  unnecessarily  shed,  or  followed  by  the  light  of  wanton  con 
flagrations.  Witness  the  massacre  of  Bayler's  troop  of  dragoons  at  Tappan, 
by  Major  General  Gray;  and  of  a  party  of  American  militia  surprised  by 
Ferguson,  near  Egg-Haabour.  Witness  the  burning  of  private  dwellings  at 
Bedford,  and  near  the  Vineyard.  The  descent  made  by  Collyer  and  Mathews 
on  Virginia;  that  of  Tryon  and  General  Garth  on  Connecticut;  and  to  these 
may  be  added  the  invasion  of  South  Carolina  tinder  Prevost,  in  which  the 
enemy  on  their  retreat,  justly  merited  the  epithet  of  a  plundering  banditti. 

During  the  year  1779  the  British  government  appear  to  have  been  too  busily    1779 
employed  upon  the  ocean  and  abroad,  to  have  meditated  any  important  ope 
rations  on  the  American  continent.     When  they  did  resume  active  operations 
on  the  land,  those  operations  were  principally  directed  against  the  southern 
states. 

It  has  been  before  repeatedly  mentioned,  that  it  was  only  in  the  hour  of 
battle  that  Greene  had  stipulated  for  the  right  to  advance  from  the  curtain 
behind  which  he  silently  conducted  the  indispensable,  though  less  dignified, 
duties  of  his  department. 

The  whole  of  the  year  1779  passed  away  without  presenting  any  oppor 
tunity  for  a  general  action.  The  British  army,  about  sixteen  thousand  strong, 
were  distributed  between  New  York  and  Newport — in  the  former  six,  in  the 
latter  ten  thousand  men.  Washington's  whole  force  from  north  to  south,  did 
not  exceed  that  number.  With  about  five  thousand  under  himself  at  ?>Iiddle- 
brook,  and  the  same  number  divided  bctvv  een  M'Dougal  and  Putnam,  in  the 
Highlands,  he  could  do  nothing  more  than  watch  and  counteract  the  move- 

O  7  O 

ments  of  his  enemy;  and,  excepting  a  few  affairs  of  posts,  and  an  expedition, 
under  Sullivan,  against  the  northern  Indians,  this  whole  campaign  passed 
away  in  a  state  of  inactivity  in  the  northern  states.  In  the  southern,  there 


f  . 

*    .  •     '     * 

"* 

• 

J26  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  were  a  few  occurrences,  which  we  will  have  occasion,  hereafter,  briefly  to 
,^v^>,  notice. 

Forts  Montgomery  and  Clinton,  which  were  first  held  by  the  Americans  .to 
command  the  North  River,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  die  enemy;  and  the 
next  passes  above,  called  Stoney  and  Verplank's  Points,  were  then  fi_xed  upon 
lor  the  same  purpose;  but  these  again,  after  various  vicissitudes,  and  the  gal 
lant  action  of  Wayne  in  storming  the  former,  remained  also  finally  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  The  attention  of  the  American  engineers  was  then 
fixed  by  the  singular  combination  of  advantages  possessed  by  West  Point,  and 
great  efforts  were  made  to  render  it  impregnable.  Here  Washington  estab 
lished  his  head  quarters,  and  here  he  remained  until  it  was  necessary  to  go 
•v  into  winter  quarters.  He  then  hutted  one  half  of  his  anny  under  General 
Heath,  at  this  place,  and  with  the  other  half  established  himself,  in  the  same 
mode,  near  Morristown  in  New  Jersey.  In  the  mean  time,  D'Estaing  having 
repaired  his  ships  at  Boston,  had  sailed  to  the  West  Indies,  had  been  strongly 
reinforced  and  returned  to  the  American  coast.  Admiral  Howe  also  had  been 
reinforced,  but  Clinton  thought  it  prudent  to  wididraw  his  troops  from  Rhode 
Island;  and  occupied  himself  in  strongly  fortifying  New  York  Island,  whilst  he 
prepared  to  make  an  attack  upon  Charleston  in  South  Carolina. 

In  the  winter  of  1779-80,  Washington's  army  was  reduced  even  to  abject 
distress.  Hunger,  cold,  and  nakedness,  combined  to  render  their  situation 
truly  deplorable.  Congress  were  without  credit  and  without  money.  To 
tender  to  the  farmer  or  merchant  their  depreciated  paper,  in  payment  for  the 
-articles  wrested  from  them,  was  to  add  mockery  to  oppression.  And  to  take 
without  compensation,  was  to  render  the  cause  of  independence  odious.  Death 
and  desertion  thinned  the  ranks  of  the  American  army,  and  the  miserable 
.i>laii  of  depending  upon  the  states  to  keep  up  quotas,  instead  of  enlisting,  as 
Washington  and  Greene  had  early  recommended,  on  the  credit,  and  in  the 
immediate  service  of  congress,  prevented  the  numbers  voted,  from  ever  being, 
one  half,  in  the  field. 

As  difficulties  thickened,  Washington  remonstrated,  his  officers  complained, 
the  army  murmured,  and  the  quarter-master  and  commissary-generals  became 
importunate  for  money.  Unfortunately,  at  that  time,  congress  had  become 
distracted  by  party.  The  dignified  unanimity  with  which  they  had  hitherto 
proceeded,  had  forsaken  them;  Jefferson,  Franklin,  Adams,  Laureus,  the 
Jlutled^es,  and  several  others  of  their  great  leaders,  were  absent,  at  home  or 
abroad,  promoting  the  common  cause  by  many  successful  efforts.  Party 
always  renders  a  legislative  body  fretful,  and  the  members  naturally  became 
discontented  with  every  body,  because  not  content  with  themselves.  Com- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  127 

v        * 

plaints  the  most  unfounded  began  to  circulate  against  the  quarter-master  and   CHAP. 
commissary  departments.     And  congress  imagined  that  they  could  remedy  s-x^w/ 
evils  flowing  leally  from  the  want  of  money  in  themselves,  by  correcting  the 
administration  or  organization  of  those  two  departments. 

The  commander  in  chief,  confident  in  the  integrity  and  ability  with  which 
the  two  departments  had  been  conducted,  and  dreading  the  consequences  of 
the  want  of  practical  knowledge  in  congress,  and  not  less  of  the  temper  which 
occasionally  gleamed  through  their  proceedings,  summoned  to  his  aid  the  talents 
and  experience  of  Greene  and  Schuyler,  and  digested  a  system  adapted  to  the 
actual  state  of  the  country  and  the  army,  which,  with  his  characteristic  mo 
desty,  he  brought  to  the  notice  of  congress.  Accompanying  this  communica 
tion  was  an  offer  from  Greene  to  administer  it  gratuitously,  "  for  the  country 
needed  the  system,  and  it  was  practical  and  easy," 

Hard  is  the  lot  of  man  in  public  life  where  the  expenditure  of  money  con 
stitutes  a  part  of  his  duty.  The  most  exalted  virtue  there,  exposes  him  to  the 
most  jealous  suspicion.  A  selfish,  sordid  world  cannot  admit  of  the  possibility 
of  disinterestedness  in  the  individual  who  offers  to  discharge  such  offices  ^ra- 

t—  O 

tuitously.  A  purer,  more  unsullied  character  than  Greene  had  from  infraicy 
sustained,  is  seluom  to  be  met  with.  Had  the  public  formed  but  a  just  estimate 
of  the  purity  and  judgment  of  Washington,  his  selection  of  Greene  for  the 
department  he  presided  over,  and  his  unabated,  nay,  increasing  confidence  in 
that  officer,  ought  to  have  satisfied  them  that  no  sinister  motive  dictated  this 
offer.  Yet  was  it  resorted  to  as  "  confirmation  strong"  of  the  original  and 

< —  o 

malevolent  insinuations  thrown  out  against  his  administration. 

It  is,  indeed,  fortunate  for  the  support  of  human  virtue,  that  the  good  man 
can,  with  confidence,  look  forward  to  the  time,  "  when  the  secrets  of  all  hearts 
shall  be  revealed."  Were  it  not  for  the  reality  of  another,  this  life  would  but 
too  often  disgust  those  who  add  most  to  its  ornament  and  happiness.  Calumny 
is  the  great  evil  of  the  human  state;  the  most  wary  cannot  wholly  escape 
from  it,  and  those  who  least  merit  imputation,  are  too  commonly  the  least 
'  guarded  against  its  attacks.  They  apprehend  it  not,  and,  of  course,  are  indif 
ferent  about  collecting  or  preserving  the  evidence  necessary  to  avert  it.  Emi 
nence  is  the  favourite  target  for  its  shafts ;  for  little  souls  are  ever  intent  to 
draw  down  the  more  elevated  to  their  own  miserable  level.  "  I  cannot  bear 
that  he  should  be  called  just,"  is  a  reason  oftener  acted  upon  than  owned.  It 
has,  indeed,  been  correctly  said,  that  a  good  life  is  the  unfailing  remedy  against 
this  evil.  But  the  poison  circulates  with  rapidity,  whilst  the  antidote  operates 
but  slowly.  Far  and  wide  does  calumny  often  circulate  before  it  reaches  the 
ears  of  its  victim.  As  a  mere  topic  of  conversation,  it  passes  rapidly  among 


128  .  ,  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  the  indifferent,  whilst  envy  and  malevolence  urge  its  speed  through  too  largo 
^^^^a  portion  of  the  world.  And  the  unwillingness  of  friends  to  disturb  the  tran 
quillity  of  its  object,  by  communicating  what  they  disbelieve  and  despise,  pro- 
f  duces  a  backwardness  on  their  part,  to  make  thcf  communication. 

In  the  present  instance,  however,  it  was  productive  of  a  curious  and  charac 
teristic  incident  between  Greene  and  one  of  his  brothers.  That  such  a  report 
prevailed,  was  communicated  to  the  latter  at  his  residence  in  Rhode  Island. 
Mounting  his  horse,  he  sought  the  general  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
.fifty  miles,  at  his  quarters  near  Morristown.  Greene's  cordial  salutation  was 
met  with  rather  a  dignified  reserve,  for  the  brother  had  still  to  ascertain  whe 
ther  he  was  addressing  himself  to  an  honest  man.  A  private  conference  was 
immediately  requested,  and  as  promptly  granted.  "  I  have  come,  brother,"  in 
a  voice  half  choked  by  emotion,  "  to  inform  you,  that  you  are  charged  with 
improper  conduct  in  your  office;  are  you  innocent?"  With  an  affectionate 
smile,  and  a  hand  firmly  placed  on  the  heart,  the  reply  was,  "  I  am."  The 
brother,  after  rendering  thanks  to  the  Almighty,  and  giving  vent  to  the  feelings 
that  had  impeded  his  utterance,  had  nothing  more  to  detain  him.  But  die 
information  sunk  deep  into  the  general's  recollection,  and  he  resolved  to  quit 
the  office,  as  soon  as  he  could  resign  it  with  honour  and  without  prejudicing 
the  service. 

It  is  with  a  feeling  of  disgust  that  the  writer  of  these  pages  enters  upon  the 
task  of  vindicating  the  subject  of  them  from  a  charge  which  nothing  could 
for  a  moment  support,  but  malevolence,  and  an  ignorance  of  his  intrinsic 
worth  and  simplicity  of  character.  It  would  be  enough  to  allege  a  fact  that 
is  known  to  all  who  knew  him,  that  he  left  the  office  poorer  than  he  entered 
upon  i^  although  his  habits  were  frugal,  and  his  style  of  living  scarcely  equal 
to  what  his  station  required.  But  there  is  other  evidence  in  existence  of  a 
nature  above  suspicion,  and  which  it  may  be  satisfactory  to  the  reader  to 
peruse.  It  is  drawn  from  his  private  and  confidential  correspondence,  wliich 
spoke  from  the  heart,  and  could  not  have  been  intended  for  the  public  eye. 

Among  the  earliest  attachments  of  the  general's  life,  was  one  formed  with  a 
cousin  of  the  name  of  Griffin  Greene.  And  to  the  close  of  their  lives,  the 
affectionate  regard  in  which  they  held  each  other,  was  nearly  proverbial.  It 
does  not  appear  that  Griffin  possessed  any  brilliancy  of  talent.  But  the  quali 
ties  of  the  heart  were  what  rivetted  the  general's  affections  to  him.  Of  a 
temper  irritable  to  a  fault,  his  companions  viewed  him  almost  with  apprehen 
sion;  but  Greene,  who  had  nothing  to  fear  from  his  impetuosity,  had  distin 
guished  in  him  a  noble  ingenuousness  and  disinterested  devotion  where  his 
affections  fastened,  on  which  he  knew  how  to  set  its  proper  value.  Nor  was 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  129 

it  perhaps,  among  the  least  of  the  causes  that  wedded  him  to  this  early  friend,   CHAP. 
that  he  had  himself  been  greatly  instrumental  in  correcting  the  faultincss  of  his  ^^J^, 
temper.     Gratitude  from  the  one  followed  the  effort,  while  the  other,  under  an 
influence  wisely  grafted  into  the  nature  of  man,  contemplated  in  his  friend,  a 
t>eing  improved   by  his  own   exertions.      Their  correspondence  shows  the 
warmth  of  their  mutual  attachment, 'and  the  unbounded  confidence  of  their 
private  communications.     Of  the  truth  of  this,  let  the  following  serve  as  a 
specimen.     On  the  17th  of  August  1780,  General  Greene  writes  to  his  friend 
from  camp  in  the  following  terms: 

"  Nothing  could  have  been  more  welcome  than  your  letter  of  the  30th  ult 
It  has  relieved  me  from  the  greatest  anxiety,  being  apprehensive  that  you  had 
taken  offence  at  some  part  of  my  conduct ;  although,  upon  the  strictest  exa 
mination,  I  could  find  nothing  in  it  that  could  have  wounded  your  feelings." 
"  Our  long  and  happy  connexion  has  been  such  a  source  of  happiness  to  me, 
that  I  tremble  when  any  occurrence  happens  which  threatens  an  interruption." 
"  I  should  esteem  it  one  of  the  greatest  misfortunes  that  could  befall  me,  to  find 
myself  sinking  in  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  those  whom  I  value."  "  I  am 
not  much  afraid  of  anything  of  this  kind  taking  place  between  you  and  me; 
but  the  best  way  to  avoid  the  evil  is,  to  guard  the  heart  against  all  impressions 
urged  by  envy  and  malevolence,  which  often  mingle  in  the  affairs  of  man 
kind." 

And  in  another  letter  of  the  29th  of  August  1779,  we  have  the  following 
expressions:  "  I  hope  you  do  not  think  me  negligent  for  not  writing  to  you 
oftener;  depend  upon  it,  it  is  not  for  want  of  affection,  for  my  heart  feels  an 
unceasing  regard  for  you,  and  I  hope  ever  will.  You  are  to  me  as  a  brother, 
nay,  nearer  than  a  brother;  as  Jonathan  loved  David,  so  do  1  love  you." 

In  the  confidential  intercourse  of  men  who  feel  thus  towards  each  other, 
there  is  no  room  for  disguise,  and  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  language 
of  the  heart,  will  recognize  in  the  following  extract,  the  genuine  expressions  of 
indignant  integrity.  ^ 

It  is  contained  in  a  letter  of  the  29th  of  June  1780.  "  I  beg  you  to  write 
to  me  by  every  opportunity,  as  nothing  is  more  agreeable  than  domestic  mat 
ters  in  this  bustle  of  life.  You  cannot  imagine  what  pleasure  letters  from  our 
friends  afford.  You  are  at  home  among  all  your  connexions,  and  think  less  of 
us  who  are  absent,  than  we  of  you.  You  arc  happy  in  your  circle,  we  are  not 

17 


130  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  so,  and,  therefore,  want  something  to  entertain  us.  No  pleasure  is  equal  to 
v^v-^,  domestic  happiness.  This  mode  of  life  is  living  for  ourselves,  every  other 
is  living  for  other  people.  I  wish  the  war  was  over,  that  I  might  return  to  my 
dear  fireside.  I  can  say  with  Solomon,  «  all  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit.' 
The  world  is  full  of  folly,  superstition,  and  ignorance,  and  overrun  with  malice, 
prejudices  and  detraction.  Good  intentions  are  no  security  against  abuse, 
especially  when  ambition  is  to  be  gratified  by  prostituting  honour  and  justice. 
Little  did  I  think  when  I  first  engaged  in  the  public  service,  it  was  such  a 
slippery,  thorny  path.  My  heart  was  honestly  devoted  to  the  public  interest, 
and  I  expected  to  feel  myself  rewarded  according  to  the  merit  of  my  actions. 
But  what  a  novice  did  I  find  myself.  The  black  passion  of  jealousy,  and  the 
cankering  spirit  of  envy,  had  well  nigh  worked  my  overthrow,  before  I  had 
the  least  idea  that  I  had  an  enemy  in  the  world.  I  was  an  enemy  to  no  man, 
and  could  not  see  why  they  should  be  to  me.  But  so  it  was,  and  so  it  will  be 
to  the  end  of  the  world,  in  political  life." 

Our  reader  is  already  partially  acquainted  with  the  correspondence  between 
the  general  and  his  elder  brother.  He  will  have  occasion  to  become  more  so, 
when  we  come  to  consider  our  hero  in  his  domestic  relations.  As  early  as 
,April  1779,  he  writes  to  this  brotker  in  the  following  words:  "You  mention 

ihe  envious  dispositions  of  Mr. and  Mr. .  I  expected  nothing  better 

from  the  first  of  these  gentlemen ;  the  last,  I  thought  had  more  principle  than 
to  be  wholly  under  the  influence  of  a  spirit  of  detraction ;  but  it  is  as  impos 
sible  for  a  person  to  be  appointed  to  a  place  of  either  honour  or  profit,  and  not 
be  subject  to  the  attacks  of  the  malevolent  and  envious,  as  it  is  for  the  sun  to 
shine  and  vegetation  not  to  spring. 

"  I  feel  the  attacks  of  such  people  daily,  but  as  I  am  conscious  of  having 
faithfully  discharged  my  duty,  I  regard  them  the  less.  There  have  been  great 
pains  taken  of  late  to  draw  a  cloud  over  my  department,  from  the  amazing 
disbursements  that  have  taken  place.  But  as  that  has  been  owing  to  the 
depreciation  of  money,  and  not  to  want  of  economy,  I  regard  it  the  less. 
However,  it  is  a  popular  subject,  and  the  people  in  general  seem  to  be  better 
pleased  at  finding  their  servants  rascals,  than  at  finding  them  honest  and  faith 
ful  to  their  trust.  I  have  just  returned  from  Philadelphia,  where  I  have  been 
to  make  a  representation  of  the  growing  clamours.  I  have  told  the  congress 
I  will  not  serve  them  at  the  risk  of  my  reputation,  and  if  they  think  my  re 
ward  greater  than  my  merit,  I  wish  to  quit  the  business;  or  if  my  past  services 
are  not  satisfactory,  it  is  my  desire  to  leave  the  department,  as  I  have  no  hopes 
to  conduct  the  business  more  to  their  satisfaction.  This  representation  I  have 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  13 

• 

made  in  writing,  to  which  they  .have  given  no  answer.     But  they  give  me  all   CHAP. 
the  assurances  in  their  individual  capacity  that  I  can  wish  or  desire,  '  that  they  ^^^J. 
have  the  most  perfect  confidence  in  my  justice  and  integrity,  as  well  as  ability 
and  attention.'     However,  these  assurances  did  not  satisfy  me,  as  I  knew  they 
might  vanish  like  smoke,  at  a  future  day,  and  would  not  serve  as  vouchers  to 
die  public  for  my  justification." 

At  that  time,  however,  calumny  was  not  able  to  prevail  over  the  unques 
tionable  evidence  in  favour  of  the  quarter-master-gcneral's  department;  and 
on  the  7th  of  June  following,  the  congress  passed  a  resolve,  that  they  "  had 
full  confidence  in  the  integrity  and  abilities  of  the  quarter-master-general  and 
commissary-general ;  [Colonel  Wadsworth ;]  and  although  there  is  reason  to 
believe,  that  abuses  have  been  committed  by  inferior  officers  in  their  respective 
departments,  yet  congress  are  persuaded  that  many  of  them  deserve  well  of 
their  country,  and  that  measures  will  speedily  be  taken  to  distinguish  such  of 
them  as  have  been  faithful  from  such  as  have  been  otherwise,  and  thereby 
cause  justice  to  be  done  to  all." 

Greene  was  sufficiently  soothed  by  this  resolve  to  listen  to  the  solicitations  of 
the  commander  in  chief  and  of  the  army,  not  to  relinquish  the  quarter-mas 
ter's  department.  But  calumny  when  once  set  in  circulation,  seldom  ceases  to 
extend  and  diffuse  itself  until  it  no  longer  continues  to  be  a  subject  of  curiosity, 
malevolence,  or  conversation.  And  unfortunately  the  improvidence  and  folly 
of  some  of  the  minor  agents  of  the  department,  gave  too  much  countenance 
to  the  report,  that  all  who  were  employed  in  administering  it,  were  acquiring 
immense  fortunes  by  fraud  and  peculation.  In  the  annals  of  that  time,  we 
have  an  anecdote  of  a  Colonel  John  Mitchell,  an  agent  in  this  department, 
and  an  honest,  but  ostentatious  man,  who  gave  an  entertainment  to  the  French 
ambassador  at  which  the  confectionary  alone  cost  £800.  Unfortunately,  also, 
the  attack  and  defence  of  the  general  staff  became  a  party  object,  and  the 
unhappy  dissentions  at  that  time  prevailing  in  congress,  soon  blew  up  the 
phantom  to  an  alarming  magnitude. 

The  commissary-general,  in  some  measure,  escaped  the  persecution,  for  he 
was  not  followed  by  the  envy  which  necessarily  attended  the  favourite.  There 
happened  also  again  to  be  a  remnant  of  the  faction  commonly  called  Con- 
way's  faction,  in  congress,  and  they  uniformly  fastened  on  Greene  as  a  favour 
ite  object.  This  affair  requires  the  more  attention  from  his  biographer,  as  its 
malevolence  was  particularly  directed  against  himself  and  General  Knox,  as 
the  known  inseparable  adherents  of  the  commander  in  chief.  And  at  last, 
was  worked  up  to  such  a  state  as  to  eventuate  in  a  serious  design,  conceived 


132  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  by  some  of  the  members  of  congress,  and  actually  moved  and  debated,  to 
V^VXW/ deprive  Greene  of  his  command  in  die  line. 

The  general  clamour  was,  "  the  officers  in  that  department  are  all  acquiring 
the  estates  of  nabobs,  and  the  expenses  of  the  army  are  enormous."  Unfor 
tunately  for  poor  Greene,  the  first  member  of  this  notable  syllogism  which  led 
to  the  conclusion  of  his  guilt,  was  not  true.  And  of  this,  wre  are  in  possession 
of  evidence  that  would  have  put  to  shame  his  most  hardy  persecutor. 

Among  the  many  inestimable  friends  who  attached  themselves  to  him  during 
his  military  career,  there  was  no  one  whom  General  Greene  prized  more,  or 
more  justly,  than  the  late  Governor  Read  of  Pennsylvania.  It  was  before 
this  gentleman  had  immortalized  himself  by  his  celebrated  reply  to  the  agent 
of  corruption,  that  these  two  distinguished  patriots  had  begun  to  feel-  for  each 
other  the  sympathies  of  congenial  souls.  Mr.  Read  had  accompanied  General 
Washington  to  Boston,  when  he  first  took  command  of  the  American  army; 
there  he  became  acquainted  with  Greene,  and,  as  was  almost  invariably  the 
case  with  those  who  became  acquainted  with  him,  and  had  hearts  to  acknow 
ledge  his  worth,  a  friendship  ensued  which  lasted  with  their  lives.  Had  that 
of  Governor  Read  been  sufficiently  prolonged,  he  would  have  discharged  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  die  subject,  the  debt  of  national  gratitude  to  which  the 
humble  efforts  of  the  writer  of  these  pages  are  now  dedicated.  We  are  in 
possession  of  die  outlines  of  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  Greene  in  the  handwriting 
of  this  friend. 

Many  letters  are  in  our  possession  expressive  of  sentiments  on  both  sides 
equally  warm  and  animated,  and  it  may  well  be  asserted,  that  die  evil  of  mis 
representation  had  arisen  to  an  alarming  height  when  such  a  friend  could,  in 
a  letter  to  our  hero,  address  him  in  the  following  language:  "  Your  situatioji 
in  the  main  army  icas  a  delicate  one,  and  I  verily  believe,  a  good  man  in  it  thought 
himself  bound  to  treat  you  with  less  friendship  than  you  deserved,  or  he  felt,  lest 
his  own  character  should  be  lessened." 

The  clamours  of  the  day  did  not  vent  themselves  alone  upon  die  head  of  the 
quarter-master-general's  department.  His  two  assistants,  Mr.  Petit  and  Colo 
nel  Coxe,  bore  their  proportionate  share  of  the  malicious  attack.  It  is  a  fact 
but  little  known,  but  of  which  tiiere  exists  the  most  incontestible  proofs,  that 
die  appointment  of  those  two  gentlemen  was  a  condition  upon  which  Greene 
accepted  the  appointment  that  he  held  in  die  staff,  and  die  arrangement  was 
made  under  the  friendly  auspices  of  Governor  Read. 

The  duties  imposed  on  that  department  comprised  the  whole  extent  of  the 
United  States.  To  have  waded  dirough  the  immense  details  incident  to  that 
office,  and  extending  to  every  part  of  the  union,  and  every  expedition  that 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  133 

might  have  been  going  on  il,  was  beyond  human  power.  Greene  felt  full 
confidence  in  his  own  talents  to  combine  and  direct  the  whole,  but  to  hope 
be  competent  to  superintend  immediately,  the  receipt  and  application  of 
money,  and  the  multifarious  mercantile  transactions  which  unavoidably  must 
result  from  the  undertaking,  would  have  been  an  instance  of  weak  confidence 
of  which  he  was  incapable.  The  talents,  integrity,  zeal,  and  capacity  for 
business  of  those  two  gentlemen,  were  well  known,  and  Governor  Read's 
individual  influence  over  them  secured  their  consent  to  act.  But  such  was 
the  disinterestedness  with  which  Greene  entered  upon  the  undertaking,  that  he 
voluntarily  relinquished  to  them  an  equal  participation  in  all  the  pay  and 
emoluments  incident  to  the  office. 

Their  conduct  was  such  as  merited  the  sacrifice,  and  ought  to  have  vindi 
cated  his  motives  and  judgment  in  securing  their  services  for  the  country. 
But  unfortunately,  this  arrangement  which,  in  the  integrity  of  their  hearts, 
none  of  the  parties  ever  concealed,  but  rather  felt  that  it  ought  to  be  viewed 
as  a  subject  of  public  commendation,  was  basely  perverted  into  evidence  of  an 
artful  copartnership,  and  a  league  to  cover  and  promote  peculation.  Let  the 
private  correspondence  of  these  gentlemen  develope  the  principles  upon  which 
they  acted,  and  die  opinions  they  entertained  of  each  other. 

In  a  letter  of  March  9th,  1778,  General  Greene  writes  to  Governor  Read 
thus:  "  I  will  share  the  profits  equally  with  Colonel  Coxe  and  Mr.  Petit;  or, 
hi  other  words,  I  will  leave  two  thirds  to  be  divided  as  they  can  agree;  but  I 
would  wish,  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  whole,  that  all  were  equally  interested, 
there  could  then  be  no  complaints.  Colonel  Coxe  and  Mr.  Petit  cannot  wish 
or  expect  any  thing  more  generous  and  equal  than  this-5— I  am  appointed  prin 
cipal  in  the  department,  made  responsible  for  all  the  branches,  I  am  taken  out 
of  the  line  of  distinction,  I  shall  be  subject  to  as  much  fatigue  as  any  one,  and 
more  expense.  I  only  agreed  to  accept  the  department  upon  Colonel  Coxe's 
being  joined.  I  would  gladly  relinquish  it  to  him  if  practicable,  but  if  not,  I 
am  ready  to  act,  provided  the  Colonel  undertakes  to  act.  But  I  cannot 
engage  upon  the  conditions  of  the  present  appointment,  upon  any  other  terms 
than  the  foregoing.  I  wish  Mr.  Petit  to  engage  in  it,  because  I  have  a  great 
opinion  of  his  integrity.  1  am  persuaded  Colonel  Coxe  will  agree  that  Mr. 
Petit  shall  share  equally  with  him." 

In  another  letter  to  the  same  gentleman  he  observes,  "  Mr.  Petit  is  every 
way  to  my  liking,  there  is  a  most  happy  assemblage  of  good  qualities  in  him, 
necessary  to  consume  the  man  of  business  and  the  confidental  friend."  And 


134  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  in  this  opinion  the  reader  would  fully  coincide,  were  it  consistent  with  the 
^^^j  object  of  this  work,  to  fill  our  pages  with  the  luminous,  patriotic,  and  well 
written  letters  of  this  gentleman.  From  one  only  shall  we  extract  a  passage, 
as  elucidating  the  subject  which  immediately  engages  our  attention.  It  is 
dated  September  24th,  1779.  "  But  after  all,  it  appears  to  me  very  doubtful 
whether  we  can  with  propriety  continue  in  our  stations  another  year.  The 
emoluments  we  receive  on  the  present  footing,  we  do  not  esteem  more  than 
bare  compensation  for  our  trouble,  and  at  the  same  time  we  have  the  reputa 
tion  of  amassing  the  fortunes  of  nabobs,  and,  of  course,  are  held  up  as  objects 
pf  envy,  and  other  invidious  passions.  These  are  reasons  that  affect  us  both 
alike;  but  we  have  each  our  separate  objections.  Yours  you  have  mentioned. 
Military  fame  is  not  only  out  of  my  reach,  but  out  of  my  view,  and,  of  course, 
holds  out  no  temptation  to  me;  neither  am  I  thirsty  for  fame  in  any  of  the 
public  walks  of  life;  my  desires,  in  this  respect,  grow  fainter  every  day:  my 
pursuit  now,  is  ease  and  retirement,  which  I  would  gladly  seize  as  soon  as  I 
find  it  in  my  power,  consistently  with  the  duties  of  a  parent;  and  as  to  this,  I 
do  not  extend  my  views  farther  than  giving  my  children  a  good  education, 
and  securing  to  my  family  the  means  of  living  in  a  decent  mediocrity.  How 
far  this  is  now  in  my  reach  depends  on  the  winding  up  of  our  political  affairs, 
and  therefore  it  appears  to  me  necessary  to  remain  in  the  busy  world  till  the 
time  and  manner  of  closing  these  affairs  can  be  better  discerned.  At  the  same 
time,  I  doubt  whether  in  point  of  profit  we  should  wish  to  continue  in  office. 
Clamours,  however  ill  founded,  run  so  high,  that  some  sacrifice  must  be  made, 
and  at  least  some  considerable  changes  to  appease  the  people.  These  changes 
may  probably  place  us  in  a  situation  far  from  profitable  or  desirable,  unless  we 
should  choose  to  justify  the  suspicions  of  the  multitude  by  deriving  profts  in  a 
way  we  both  despise,  however  commonly  it  may  have  been  practised  in  like  cases. 
But,  however  this  may  be,  the  consideration  that  by  attempting  a  much  longer 
continuance,  we  may  lose  the  opportunity  of  retiring  with  fair  reputations, 
deserves  no  small  weight.  Before  we  take  any  decided  step  in  the  matter,  I 
think  we  ought  to  come  to  a  full  understanding  with  congress,  and  learn  their 
mind  on  several  points;  for  there  may  be  as  much  danger  in  attempting  to 
withdraw  abruptly,  or  against  their  will,  as  in  continuing  too  long." 

Nothing  had  been  omitted,  on  the  part  of  General  Greene,  to  conciliate  the 
confidence  of  congress,  and  afford  every  opportunity  for  investigating  his  con 
duct.  As  it  was  possible  that  the  murmurs  abroad,  and  the  invidious  hints 
which  were  occasionally  thrown  out  in  the  newspapers,  may  have 'infected  the 
minds  of  the  members,  even  as  early  as  April  1779  he  repaired  to  Philadelphia, 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  135 

and  solicited  a  conference  with  a  committee  of  that  body,  on  subjects  relative   CHAP. 
to  the  duties  and  situation  of  his  department.  \^v^* 

A  committee  was  accordingly  appointed,  and  an  ample  and  luminous  view 
of  the  state  of  that  department  was  laid  before  them.  On  a  previous  day,  he 
had  addressed  to  the  president,  Mr.  Jay,  a  letter,  in  which  he  pointed  out  many 
improvements  that  he  thought  indispensably  necessary  to  the  perfect  organiza 
tion  of  that  department;  and  in  it,  it  is  remarkable  that  he  recommends 
strongly  the  increase  of  the  pay  of  all  concerned  in  it  except  himself.  He  now 
took  occasion  to  renew  the  same  subject,  but  that  it  might  not  be  thought  that 
this  conference  was  solicited  with  any  private  views,  he  cautiously  avoided 
whatever  related  to  himself  individually.  Yet,  knowing  the  importance  in  a 
popular  government  of  enjoying  the  support  of  opinion,  and  seriously  wishing 
to  quit  a  station  in  which  all  the  disinterestedness  with  which  he  had  under 
taken  it,  and  the  ability  and  integrity  with  which  he  had  discharged  it,  had 
not  been  sufficient  to  protect  him  from  suspicion,  the  day  after  this  conference 
he  addressed  to  the  president  of  congress  the  following  letter: 


"PHILADELPHIA,  21th  April  1779. 
"  SIR, 

"  When  I  had  the  honour  to  meet  a  committee  of  congress  on  Friday  last, 
I  took  occasion  to  mention  to  them  my  apprehensions  that  some  reports  which 
were  spread  abroad  concerning  the  quarter-master's  department,  would  have 
a  tendency  injurious  to  public  service,  by  souring  the  minus  of  the  people,  and 
rendering  it  difficult  to  obtain  the  necessary  supplies  for  the  army.  But  as  that 
part  of  the  conference  was  not  committed  to  writing,  and  may  not  have  been 
considered  in  so  serious  alight  as  I  intended,  I  take  the  liberty  of  communicat 
ing  it  more  fully  to  your  excellency  by  letter. 

"  The  gentlemen  appointed  by  congress  to  assist  me,  as  well  as  myself,  begin 
to  be  alarmed  at  the  murmurings  and  complaints  which  have  of  late  been 
spread  abroad  to  the  prejudice  of  the  system  and  management  of  our  depart 
ment.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  govern  a  department  so  extensive,  and  which 
requires  the  employment  of  so  many  persons  in  different  places,  without  giving 
opportunities  to  dishonest  men,  in  the  detail  of  the  business,  to  take  undue 
advantages:  but  from  the  care  taken  in  the  choice  of  our  agents,  and  the  atten- 

O         '  CD 

tion  which  has  been  paid  to  the  economy  of  the  business,  we  have  reason  to 
believe  there  have  been  as  few  of  these  abuses  as  could  reasonably  have  been 
expected.  We,  therefore,  believe,  that  these  growing  clamours  are  founded  on 
general  suspicions,  rather  than  on  facts,  and  propagated  from  improper  mo- 


136  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   tives;  and  though  we  are  conscious  of  having  faithfully  discharged  our  duty 
the  best  of  oar  abilities,  we  are  nevertheless  apprehensive  that  injurious 
imputations,  however  unjust,  may  reach  our  reputations,  and  that  unless  diose 
evil  reports  are  speedily  corrected,  jealousies  and  discontents  may  grow  among 
the  people  to  injury  of  the  public  service. 

"  I  cannot  but  consider  the  department  in  a  critical  situation,  and  should  die 
prejudices  of  die  people  throw  new  difficulties  in  the  way  of  our  business,  it 
cannot  fail  of  producing  some  disagreeable  consequences.  We,  therefore, 
request  the  favour  of  congress  to  signify  their  sense  of  our  conduct. 

"  If  the  present  system  on  which  our  agents  are  employed,  is  thought  to  be 
prejudicial  to  the  public  interest,  and  that  a  new  one  ought  to  be  adopted,  we 
have  already  declared  our  willingness  to  give  aid  to  such  a  measure. 

"  Our  highest  ambition  has  been  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  army,  and  to 
merit  the  approbation  of  congress.  These  ends  we  have  assiduously  endea 
voured  to  obtain,  but  if  our  past  services  have  no  claim  to  this  honour,  we 
have  no  hopes  of  succeeding  in  future,  and  would  wish  to  give  place  to  abler 
hands.  We  pretend  not  to  be  regardless  of  the  pecuniary  reward  we  derive 
from  the  public,  but  a  fair  reputation  and  the  esteem  of  our  fellow-citizens,  we 
value  at  a  much  higher  rate.  No  pecuniary  consideration  would,  therefore, 
induce  us  to  continue  longer  in  the  present  employment,  than  is  consistent 
with  their  preservation.  We  did  not  solicit  our  appointment,  neither  have  we 
a  wish  to  hold  it,  if  our  merit  is  less  than  our  reward. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,"  &c. 

Every  word  of  this  letter  is  given  to  the  reader,  that  he  may  the  better  judge 
of  the  temper  that  must,  at  that  time,  have  swayed  the  judgment  of  congress, 
when  it  could  have  given  umbrage,  and  drawn  upon  him  the  imputation  of 
writing  it  under  the  influence  of  passion.  Yet  so  it  was;  and  instead  of  excit 
ing  their  admiration  for  the  purity  and  manliness  of  the  sentiments  that  it 
breathes,  it  was  the  origin  of  that  personal  feeling  which  afterwards  exhibited 
its  full  force  against  him. 

In  a  letter  of  the  13th  of  January  following,  written  at  New  Windsor,  and 
which  was  drawn  forth  by  a  communication  from  his  friend  Mr.  Petit,  who 
resided  at  the  seat  of  government,  he  thus  expresses  himself  on  this  subject: 

"  The  congress  are  mistaken  if  they  suppose  I  wrote  either  under  the  influ 
ence  of  passion  or  prejudice.  I  wrote  what  I  thought,  and  I  think  what  I 
wrote.  It  is  no  small  misfortune,  that  that  body  are  too  little  acquainted  with 
the  nature  of  the  business  of  the  staff,  to  distinguish  between  evils  incident  and 


•     : 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

inseparable  from  it,  and  those  which  originate  from  neglect  or  any  other  im-  CHAP. 
proper  cause.  Designing  men,  w  ho  dislike  the  system  or  the  agents  employed  ^^^^ 
in  it,  have  nothing  more  to  do,  to  ruin  the  one  or  destroy  the  other,  than  to 
employ  a  few  secret  emissaries  to  instil  poison  and  jealousies  into  the  people. 
This  being  worked  up  into  a  ferment,  and  the  congress  ignorant  of  the  cause, 
they  fall  upon  measures  to  remedy  the  evil  that  only  serve  to  add  new  difficul 
ties.  They  who  do  not  support  measures  from  their  usefulness,  will  ever  be  the 
sport  of  designing  men.  It  is  astonishing,  how  easily  the  honest  and  well- 
meaning,  are  duped  too,  into  the  most  destructive  measures,  by  the  secret  arti 
fices  of  a  few.  In  a  government  like  ours,  how  cautious  ought  legislators  to 
be.  in  crediting  evil  reports  to  the  prejudice  of  their  servants;  and  how  careful 
to  examine  their  actions  before  a  judgment  is  formed,  or  a  decision  takes  place! 
How  much  the  reverse  of  this  has  been  the  policy  of  congress  in  several  in 
stances  !  :  •»:..'  *'  •  ^  "  .  *  -v  ^ . 

"  1  will  venture  to  pronounce,  we  shall  ever  be  in  confusion  and  distress 
while  popular  frenzy  takes  the  lead  in. ad  ministration,  instead  of  just  measures 
founded  in  maxims  of  sound  policy.. 

"  Have  not  the  tories  a  power  to  render  us  odious  to  one  another?  Cannot 
they  create  jealousies  concerning  the  designs  of  the  army  ?  How  easilv  can 
they  brand  the  fairest  characters  as  violators  of  public  trust !  Nothing  is 
easier  than  to  set  such  measures  in  operation ;  and  distrust  and  deep-rooted 
prejudices,  with  perhaps  violent  measures  against  the  suspected,  are  die  conse 
quences. 

"A  bad  system  and  abuse  of  trust  are  popular  subjects.  Change  your 
system  and  remove  delinquents,  is  their  cry.  This  must  be  done  to  satisfy  tho 
people,  whether  any  more  useful  system  can  be  substituted,  or  better  men  be 
found  to  serve  in  the  department  or  not.  The  object  of  administration  seems 
to  be,  not  whether  business  be  well  done,  but  whether  individuals  gain  by  it; 
not  whether  better  men  or  better  systems  can  be  adopted,  but  whether  a 
change  is  a  popular  measure.  Unfortunate  people!  to  be  the  sport  of  every 
•wind  and  tide  of  passion  and  prejudice.  I  have  said  very  little  to  any  body 
in  support  of  the  system,  or  in  justification  of  those  employed  in  the  depart 
ment.  But  I  am  confident,  fatal  experience  will  soon  convince  the  world  that 
there  can  be  no  change  for  the  better.  The  constitution  of  the  department, 
or  the  extent  of  its  business,  appears  to  be  little  known  to  congress.  There 
fore,  the  monies  expended  in  it,  are  in  amount  both  alarming  and  inexplicable 
to  them.  It  is  evident  they  know  nothing  of  the  nature  of  the  business  from 
their  manner  of  inquiry.  Neither  have  they  any  idea  of  the  difficulties  inci 
dent  to  it.  I  enclose  you  a  copy  of  what  I  wrote  to  congress,  by  which  you 

18 


138  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  will  sec  I  shall  consider  myself  a  volunteer  after  your  resignation,  and  detcr- 
>^-v^  mine  to  get  out  of  the  business  as  soon  as  possible,  without  giving  my  enemies 
.  an  advantage  over  me  from  the  manner  in  which  I  leave  the  department. 
This  precaution  may  be  necessary  for  you  to  attend  to.  I  entered  this  depart 
ment  upon  the  express  condition  of  your  acting  with  me;  the  moment  you 
quit,  I  shall  think  myself  at  liberty  also.  There  are  few  men  with  whom  I 
would  be  concerned  in  business  like  this.  Men  are  difficult  to  be  found  whose 
capacity,  knowledge  of  business,  temper  and  integrity  can  be  relied  on.  And 
to  be  connected  with  men  deficient  in  either,  or  to  form  connexions  at  hap 
hazard,  is  a  risk  that  I  will  not  run.  I  am  willing  to  make  any  reasonable 
sacrifice,  but  I  will  not  expose  my  character  and  fortune  to  certain  ruin.  As 
soon  as  you  announce  your  resignation  formally  to  me,  I  shall  send  in  mine. 
But  at  the  same  time,  I  mean  to  offer  my  services  as  a  volunteer,  but  will  not 
be  answerable  for  monies  spent  in  the  department,  or  for  the  supplies  that  may 
be  wanted.  I  have  found  it  very  difficult  to  support  myself  with  our  united 
exertions.  What  is  to  be  expected,  therefore,  when  two  principal  branches 
are  lopped  off? 

"  I  like  you  address  to  congress,  and  would  cheerfully  have  signed  it,  if  it 
had  been  only  to  awaken  their  attention  to  the  state  of  the  department.  I  am 
far  from  being  displeased  with  your  resignation.  I  think  you  have  just  cause, 
and  would  be  wanting  to  yourself  were  you  to  continue  in  office.  This  cir 
cumstance  will  open  a  door  through  which  I  can  escape  out  of  the  department, 
which  both  my  wishes  and  interest  lead  to.  It  is  now  in  a  tolerable  state.  I 
am  not  certain  it  would  be  in  my  power  to  continue  it  so  witii  our  whole 
exertions;  and,  therefore,  it  may  be  a  happy  circumstance  in  the  end,  that  we 
have  an  opportunity  of  quitting  it  when  in  a  tolerable  condition." 

As  a  prospect  of  being  able  to  resign  with  reputation,  he  thought  now  pre 
sented  itself,  he  deemed  it  expedient  to  draw  up  an  expos'  of  the  circum 
stances  under  which  he  had  at  first  undertaken,  and  ever  continued  to  dis 
charge  the  duties  of  that  department,  and  for  that  purpose  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  late  Mr.  Duane,  who  was  then  a  representative  in  congress  from  the 
state  of  New  York,  and  had  ever  been  distinguished  for  his  excellence  of  heart 
and  gravity  of  character.  This  letter  furnishes  the  fullest,  and  certainly  the 
most  authentic  history  of  this  period  of  General  Greene's  life. 

"  I  have  had  frequent  conversations  with  you  upon  the  quarter-master's 
department.  Your  being  at  the  head  of  the  treasury  board,  president  of  the 
committee  for  conferring  with  the  general,  and  perfectly  acquainted  with  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  139 

secrets  of  congress,  as  well  as  their  opinions  and  sentiments  respecting  men   CHAP. 
and  measures,  I  wish  to  explain  myself  to  you  upon  the  subject  more  fully  than  ^^^^ 
I  hitherto  have  done. 

"  It  has  been  hinted  to  me,  that  some  members  of  congress  think  I  am  too 
griping  in  my  demands,  and  am  making  a  fortune  too  rapidly.  As  this  is  an 
insinuation  of  a  personal  nature,  and  implies  a  charge  of  taking  an  ungene 
rous  advantage  of  the  public  necessities,  I  feel  myself  not  a  little  hurt  at  it. 

"  There  is  not  a  man  in  the  army  who  has  been  a  greater  slave  to  public 
business  from  the  infancy  of  the  war,  than  I  have ;  and  I  flatter  myself  no  one 
more  useful  in  the  humble  station  in  which  I  have  served.  I  have  been  in 
every  action  that  has  taken  place  with  the  grand  army  since  the  commence 
ment  of  the  war,  except  those  upon  Long  Island  and  at  the  White  Plains. 
And  although  I  have  never  derived  any  great  military  merit,  yet  no  one  has 
been  more  exposed,  or  more  intent  upon  doing  his  duty.  I  think,  therefore,  I 
may  claim  some  merit,  as  I  make  very  great  sacrifices  in  leaving  the  honours 
of  the  line,  at  a  season  when  I  had  the  fairest  prospects  of  reaping  personal 
advantages  by  my  military  services. 

"  I  have  never  spent  a  single  moment  in  attending  to  my  own  private  affairs 
since  I  entered  the  army,  nor  have  I  been  at  my  own  home  above  an  hour, 
and  that  on  the  march  from  Boston  to  New  York,  except  when  I  went  on  the 
Rhode  Island  expedition  last  summer,  and  then  I  was  near  home  but  about  a 
fortnight.  I  trust,  therefore,  it  will  not  be  thought  that  I  am  not  unreasonably 
attentive  to  my  own  private  interest,  especially  when  it  is  known  that  I  had  a 
considerable  interest  in  trade,  which  I  have  been  obliged  to  leave  to  the  direc 
tion  of  others,  with  a  transfer  of  a  great  proportion  of  the  profits  to  transact 
the  business. 

"  The  emolument  expected  from  the  quarter-master's  department  I  freely 
confess,  are  flattering  to  my  fortune,  but  not  less  humiliating  to  my  military 
pride.  I  have  as  fair  pretensions  to  an  honourable  command  as  those  who 
hold  them,  and  while  I  am  drudging  in  an  office  from  which  I  shall  receive  no 
honour,  and  very  few  thanks,  I  am  losing  an  opportunity  of  doing  justice  to 
my  military  character.  And  what  adds  to  my  mortification  is,  that  my  pre 
sent  humiliating  employment  is  improved  to  pave  the  way  for  others'  glory. 
There  is  a  srreat  difference  between  bcino:  raised  to  an  office  and  descending  to 

O  O  O 

one.  Had  I  been  an  inferior  officer,  I  might  have  thought  myself  honoured 
by  the  appointment.  But  as  I  was  high  in  rank  in  the  army,  I  have  ever 
considered  it  as  derogatory  to  serve  in  this  office.  It  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  I  could  prevail  on  myself  to  engage  in  the  business.  Nothing 
but  the  wretched  state  that  the  department  was  in,  and  the  consequent  ruin 


140  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  that  must  follow,  added  to  the  general's  and  the  committee  of  congress'  solici- 
V^-N^-X^  tations,  could  have  procured  my  consent.  It  was  not  with  a  view  to  profit; 
for  the  general  and  the  committee  of  congress  well  remember,  that  I  offered  to 
serve  a  year,  (unconnected  with  the  accounts  of  the  department,)  in  the  mili 
tary  line,  without  any  additional  pay  to  that  which  I  had  as  major  "encral. 
But  as  this  plan  did  not  comport  with  their  views,  I  told  them  that  I  would 
serve  upon  the  same  conditions  that  Colonel  Coxe  and  Mr.  Petit  could  be 
engaged  upon;  and  I  have  no  more  now  than  they  have — notwithstanding  my 
situation  subjects  me  to  a  double  share  of  fatigue,  and  holds  me  responsible  for 
every  failure.  My  emoluments  are  far  less  than  the  commissary-general, 
while  the  duties  of  my  office  are  infinitely  more  perplexing  and  troublesome. 

"  However  high  you  may  consider  the  late  proposition  which  I  made  to 
congress  as  a  reward  for  my  services,  it  was  far  short  of  what  the  other  gentle 
men  concerned  in  it  thought  themselves  entitled  to;  and  I  believe  they  could 
not  have  been  brought  to  engage  upon  such  terms  as  were  offered,  had  I  not 
told  them  it  was  what  the  president  of  congress  and  the  gentlemen  of  the 
general's  own  family  advised. 

"  I  did  not  solicit  the  appointment  in  the  first  instance,  neither  am  I  solicitous 
to  hold  it.  I  wish  but  to  know  the  inclinations  of  congress  in  that  respect,  to 
gratify  their  wishes.  I  undertook  the  business  with  a  flattering  expectation  of 
meeting  with  their  approbation;  but  I  can  have  no  hopes  of  succeeding  if  they 
think  my  reward  higher  than  my  merit.  I  will  appeal  to  facts  for  my  fidelity. 

"  The  distress  of  the  army  and  the  confusion  of  the  department  at  the  time 
I  entered  upon  it,  arc  notorious.  I  wish  but  to  have  the  state  of  the  de 
partment  at  the  two  periods,  this  and  the  last  spring,  fairly  contrasted.  I  wish 
the  general  to  be  called  upon,  and  every  other  officer  in  whatever  department, 
to  know  whether  they  have  not  had  every  assistance  that  they  had  a  right  to 
demand  of  the  office,  or  that  the  state  of  the  country  would  admit  of.  And 
also  whether  the  business  has  not  been  conducted  with  as  much  economy  and 
order,  as  could  be  expected  in  the  confused  state  in  which  I  found  it,  and  from 
the  complexity  of  its  nature. 

"  I  found  the  line  of  the  army  and  the  staff  almost  at  open  war.  The  differ 
ences  subsisting  between  them  I  have  been  happy  enough  to  reconcile,  and  to 
restore  a  mutual  good  understanding;  in  a  word,  I  have  had  a  very  laborious 
task.  The  business  of  the  department  has  been  very  expensive.  The  decline 
of  the  currency,  the  avarice  of  the  people,  and  the  plan  of  the  war,  have  ren 
dered  it  unavoidably  so.  I  have  studied  economy  as  much  as  was  in  my 
power,  and  am  persuaded  there  has  been  little  wanton  waste  of  public  pro 
perty.  I  cannot  add  more  industry  or  attention  to  the  bu^ness  tuan  I  have 


t 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  141 

% 

done.     If  my  conduct  is  not  satisfactory,  it  is  my  wish  to  quit  a  business   CHAP. 
wherein  1  cannot  please.  >^-v^/ 

"  I  have  been  in  expectation  ever  since  I  left  Philadelphia  of  anew  system. 
I  gave  you  all  the  assurances  in  my  power  of  seconding  your  measures,  in  any 
plan  you  should  think  proper  to  adopt.  I  have  given  in  the  conditions  upon 
which  I  would  act  under  it;  which,  by  the  by,  are  far  from  being  thought 
unreasonable.  On  the  contrary,  the  terms  are  considered  moderate  and  equi 
table.  How  it  got  abroad  into  the  world,  I  know  not,  but  it  seems  it  has,  and 
such  are  people's  sentiments  respecting  it.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the 
quarter-master-general  in  all  armies  is  always  liberally  rewarded,  as  he  re 
ceives  no  honour  or  laurels  for  all  his  toils.  From  the  nature  of  the  duty  and 
the  importance  of  the  trust,  the  time  and  qualifications  necessary  to  execute 
the  office  in  all  its  branches,  it  cannot  be  thought  that  my  proposition  was  the 
child  of  avarice,  or  a  creature  of  extortion.  So  perfectly  satisfied  am  I  with 
the  rectitude  of  my  own  actions,  that  I  have  not  the  least  objection  to  the 
whole  world  being  made  acquainted  with  every  circumstance  and  transac 
tion.  I  have  always  written  and  spoken  my  mind  truly  to  congress,  and  the 
committees  acting  under  them,  whenever  I  have  thought  it  necessary  for  the 
public  good.  In  doing  this,  I  trust  I  have  always  preserved  that  decorum  and 
respect  which  is  due  to  so  honourable  a  body.  But  if  plain  truth  and  matters 
of  fact  give  offence,  it  is  the  matter,  and  not  the  manner  that  is  faulty. 

"  I  find  difficulties  enough  that  are  incident  to,  and  inseparable  from,  the 
office.  If  these  are  multiplied  by  prejudices  and  discontent,  the  task  will  be 
rendered  intolerable. 

"  Previous  to  my  engaging  in  the  business,  the  committee  of  congress  and 
the  general  promised  me  all  the  assistance  that  congress,  or  the  different  states 
could  render,  in  aid  of  the  business  committed  to  my  care.  From  some  states 
I  have  had  it,  whilst  in  others  I  have  met  with  almost  every  embarrassment. 
I  only  mention  this  circumstance  to  show  on  what  a  broad  bottom  I  undertook 
the  business,  and  to  afford  an  opportunity  of  observing,  that  if  my  means  be 
restricted,  I  cannot  be  responsible  for  the  consequences. 

"  Having  thus,  sir,  presented  you  an  honest  view  of  my  present  standing, 
may  I  solicit  your  advice  as  to  the  part  I  ought  to  act  as  most  consistent  with 
my  own  honour  and  the  public  wishes?" 

This  letter  is  an  original  historical  document,  comprising  in  itself  both  the 
fact  and  the  evidence,  and  presenting  a  modest,  }et  manly  narrative  of  services 
unquestionably  rendered,  sacrifices  actually  made,  and  feelings  unaffectedly 
sincere.  The  circumstances  under  which  it  was  written,  the  person  to  whom 


142  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  addressed,  and  the  references  it  makes,  all  conspire  to  challenge  investigation, 
,^v^.,  and  defy  contradiction;  whilst  the  sentiments  it  expresses  arc  such  as  the 
soldier  ought  to  breathe,  and  the  man  connected  with  society,  is  justified  in 
avowing. 

Although  Greene  did  not  resign  at  this  time,  it  was  perfectly  understood 
that  in  continuing  to  hold  the  office,  he  had  made  a  sacrifice  of  his  wishes  and 
interests  to  the  solicitations  of  the  commander  in  chief,  the  comforts  of  the 
army,  and  the  general  interests  of  a  cause  in  which  his  zeal  and  ardour  were 
unabated.  Influenced  by  these  motives  also,  Colonel  Coxe  and  Mr.  Petit  still 
continued  to  act  as  his  assistants,  and  patiently,  they  awaited  the  fulfilment  of 
the  soothing  promises  of  congress  to  adopt  such  measures  as  would  secure 
them  against  future  embarrassments  in  their  office. 

A  committee  was  accordingly  appointed  to  report  a  new  system  for  his 
department,  and  another  to  devise  the  means  of  checking  the  depreciation  of 
the  paper  currency. 

The  former  committee  never  reported  until  the  month  of  March  in  the 
ensuing  year;  but  pressing  necessity  drew  forth  from  die  latter,  a  system  from 
which  great  things  were  expected,  but  which  proved  in  the  end  a  mere  piece 
of  quackery  in  finance. 

The  means  devised  to  restore  public  credit  were,  to  redeem  the  continental 
bills  in  circulation  at  the  rate  of  forty  for  one,  and  that  too,  by  a  new  emission 
from  the  same  body  that  had  promised  to  pay  the  former  in  Spanish  milled  dol 
lars  at  par.  But  the  states  were  individually  to  pledge  themselves  for  the 
new  emission.  Unfortunately,  the  credit  of  the  endorser  was  no  better  than 
that  of  the  drawer,  and  the  project  resulted  in  very  little  more  than  one  of 
those  fluctuations  in  the  value  of  a  circulating  medium,  which  serve  to  fatten 
the  speculator  at  the  expense  of  the  ignorant  or  the  credulous. 

The  other  measure  was,  to  supply  the  necessities  of  the  army  by  chaining 
opinion  to  the  car  of  legislation,  and  subjecting  individual  avarice  to  public 
exigency.  The  prices  of  articles  of  prime  necessity  were  to  be  regulated  by 
law. 

All  the  states  came  readily  into  these  measures,  with  the  exception  of  Vir 
ginia;  she  at  first  rejected  them  by  a  large  majority;  and  excited  a  degree  of 
consternation  in  the  breast  of  every  whig,  whilst  the  exultation  of  the  enemy 
knew  no  bounds.  "  The  rope  of  sand  is  at  length  broken,"  was  their  excla 
mation.  By  dint  of  extraordinary  exertions,  the  Virginia  legislature  was  pre 
vailed  upon  to  reconsider  tlu's  vote,  and  the  measures  were  finally  adopted  by 
a  majority  of  (wo. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE,         ^  143 

It  will  excite  in  our  readers  no  small  opinion  of  the  political  foresight  of  our   CHAP. 
hero,  when  it  is  shown  that  these  occurrences  drew  forth  from  him  a  predic-  ^~v~+s 
tion  of  the  result  of  these  measures,  and  of  the  necessity  of  adopting  a  consti 
tution  independent  of,  and  possessing  some  control  over,  the  authority  of  the 
states.     We  have  already  secured  to  him  the  praise  of  having  been,  if  not  die 
first,  at  least  among  the  first,  who  boldly  espoused  a  declaration  of  indepen 
dence  ;  and  are  not  a  little  gratified  in  having  it  in  our  power  to  prove,  that 
he  was  at  least  among  the  first  who  suggested  the  necessity  of  our  present 
constitution. 

In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  dated  August  15th,  1779,  he  writes  thus:  "  I  see  by 
the  eastern  papers,  they  are  making  great  exertions  to  give  new  credit  to  our 
money.  The  spirit  is  laudable,  but  the  attempt  will  fail,  without  the  aid  of 
heavy  taxes  and  a  stop  to  emissions  of  paper.  If  the  public  are  convinced 
that  the  congress  and  the  states  are  in  earnest  about  redeeming  their  money,  it 
will  rise  in  value,  but  there  is  the  rub.  One  circumstance  leads  me  to  think 
they  are  really  in  earnest  Colonel  Dyer,  who  was  against  redeeming  the 
money  at  its  full  value  formerly,  is  now  supporting  the  necessity  of  the  mea 
sure  with  all  his  influence.  This,  and  some  other  circumstances,  lead  me  to 
think  there  will  be  a  serious  attempt  to  redeem  the  money.  If  there  is  a  trial, 
it  will  succeed." 

In  another  letter  of  die  29th  October  of  the  same  year,  he  observes,  "  The 
late  regulations  have  had  just  the  eflect  I  at  first  expected.  This  kind  of  mea 
sures  will  always  terminate  in  this  way,  that  is,  in  adding  to  the  evil  they  are 
meant  to  remedy.  The  great  bodies  of  men  who  entered  upon  this  plan  to 
give  support  to  the  money,  rather  staggered  my  opinion  in  some  stages  of  the 
business;  although  it  was  clearly  opposed  to  the  principles  of  commerce  and 
the  experience  of  mankind.  Noise  and  bluster  very  often  dupe  our  reason, 
and  betray  men  into  measures  which  their  better  judgment  is  unwilling  to 
assent  to.  I  wish  to  my  soul  the  measure  had  been  practicable,  both  for  pri 
vate  and  public  reasons.  I  have  been  growing  poorer  every  day  for  some 
time  past,  although  nominally  getting  richer.  The  public  business  gets  more 
and  more  difficult  to  manage,  for  want  of  some  steady  and  uniform  represen 
tative  of  property.  Therefore,  in  every  point  of  view  it  A\as  clearly  my  inte 
rest  to  wish  a  regulation;  but  I  was,  and  am  still  persuaded,  the  thing  is 
impracticable.  We  may  try  the  same  thing  over  and  over  again,  and  it  will 
always"  terminate  in  vexation  and  disappointment." 


144  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

And  in  another  letter  of  June  29th,  1780,  he  observes,  "The  money  1ms 
in  a  most  wretched  train  for  a  long  time;  the  last  plan  of  finance  is  far 
from  being  agreeable  to  every  body.  The  state  of  Virginia  has  rejected  it. 
This  injudicious  measure  will  give  it  a  staggering  blow,  and  I  wish  it  may  not 
give  it  a  deadly  wound.  The  congress  have  lost  their  influence.  No  state  in 
the  union  would  have  dared  to  counteract  what  they  had  recommended,  three. 
.  years  ago.  But  they  have  trifled  so  much  with  national  faith  and  national 
honour,  that  their  mandates  begin  to  have  no  more  force  than  the  doings  of  a 
town-meeting.  /  have  for  a  long  time  seen  the  necessity  for  some  new  plan  of 
civil  constitution.  I  am  more  and  more  convinced  of  the  necessity  for  it  every 
day  of  my  life.  Unless  there  is  some  control  over  the  states  by  the  congress,  and 
unless  they  are  in  some  way  more  independent  of  the  states  than  they  have  been, 
we  shall  soon  be  like  a  broken  band" 

We  will  detain  the  reader  with  two  more  short  specimens  of  that  foresight 
and  judgment  which  constituted  the  true  basis  of  Greene's  influence  over  the 
minds  of  those  who  knew  him. 

The  first  is  from  a  letter  dated  June  9th,  1779:  "  The  state  of  the  money 
is  alarming;  the  depreciation  grows  more  and  more  rapid  with  you,  I  find. 
Nothing  but  heavy  taxes,  and  a  considerable  loan,  properly  applied,  can  save 
its  declining  credit.  The  congress  seem  to  have  got  awake  a  little,  with 
respect  to  the  state  of  the  money.  They  have  ordered  the  states  to  raise  sixty 
million  of  dollars  this  year.  If  the  states  will  second  their  measures,  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  currency  may  change,  but  on  that  alone  it  depends.  My 
observations  in  my  former  letter  were  founded  on  this  supposition,  that  neither 
congress,  nor  the  states,  would  take  any  adequate  measures  to  restore  credit 
and  vigour  to  the  declining  currency.  There  are  some  of  the  first  characters 
on  the  continent  who  think  there  is  a  party  in  congress,  who  wish  to  destroy 
the  paper  money  altogether.  .  Whether  this  suspicion  is  well,  or  ill  founded,  I 
cannot  say  ;  but  there  arc  many  circumstances  which  give  credit  to  such  an 
opinion.  The  attempt  is  abominable;  but  party  faction,  and  private  views, 
are  capable  of  almost  any  thing.  I  agree  with  you  in  sentiment,  that  if  our 
currency  fails,  the  congress  will  fail  with  it.  You  have  seen  their  address  to 
the  states,  and  in  addition  to  those  it  is  said,  a  plan  for  negocialing  a  loan  is  on 
foot,  but  what  foundation  there  is  for  this  opinion,  I  am  a  stranger  to.  It  is 
impossible  to  tell,  in  their  present  situation,  what  turn  affairs  will  take.  The 
prospects  of  peace,  and  neglect  of  money,  have  brought  us  into  a  most  disa 
greeable  state.  The  most  able  politicians,  and  greatest  financiers  we  have. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  145 

« 

are  at  a  loss  to  tell  what  turn  our  currency  will  take.     I  still  hope  Its  credit  •  CHAP. 
will  be  supported.     I  would  rather  give  two  thirds  of  my  little  fortune  than  v^-^1^. 
have  it  sunk ;  it  will  be  an  everlasting  disgrace  upon  us.     I  am  not  personally 
interested  in  the  support  of  it,  having  no  money  in  the  loan,  and  very  little  b^ 
me  or  due  to  me." 

V 

And  in  a  letter  of  the  31st  January  1780,  he  observes,  "  There  never  was  a 
more  difficult  time  to  determine  what  is  best  to  be  done;  some  have  great 
expectation  of  a  peace.  Some  think  one  thing,  and  some  another,  concerning 
the  money.  1  am  of  opinion,  upon  the  whole,  there  will  be  some  settled 
depreciation  fixed  at  stated  periods,  and  the  money  finally  redeemed  in  this 
way.  But  how  and  what  will  be  its  fate,  is  unknown  to  me,  and  I  believe  to 
mortal  man." 

The  winter  of  1779-80  set  in  with  unusual  severity.  It  is  still  remembered 
emphatically,  as  "  the  cold  winter."  The  British  army,  comfortably  housed 
as  they  were  in  the  cities,  suffered  greatly  under  the  privations  imposed  upon 
them  by  being  cut  off  from  a  free  communication  with  the  country. 

But  their  sufferings  were  nothing  when  compared  with  what  the  Americans 
had  to  sustain.  The  country  adjacent  to  New  York,  having  been  so  long  the 
seat  of  war,  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  most  of  their  supplies  were  necessarily 
brought  from  a  great  distance.  The  North  River  was  frozen  up  at  a  ycry 
early  day,  and  transportation  by  land  supplied  all  their  wants.  When  the 
roads  had  become  in  a  state  adapted  to  the  use  of  sleds,  this  difficulty,  hi  some 
measure  was  obviated,  but  until  then,  their  camp  was  precariously  supplied 
with  the  necessaries  of  life ;  for  although  the  country  afforded  it,  the  miserable 
means  by  which  it  was  to  be  procured,  caused  it  either  to  be  concealed,  with 
drawn,  or  withheld.  The  consequence  was,  that  it  was  impossible  ever  to 
have  in  camp  any  quantity  in  depot,  and  when  the  transportation  was  inter 
rupted  by  bad  weather,  the  rations  of  the  soldiers  were  reduced.  On  one 
occasion,  after  a  succession  of  snow  storms,  they  actually  were  so  straitened 
for  provision,  that  there  was  not  in  camp  enough  for  a  single  regiment. 
Famine  stared  them  in  the  face;  for  the  roads  were  impassable,  and  naked  and 
barefoot  as  they  were,  the  soldiers  could  do  little  towards  breaking  the  roads, 
(as  it  is  termed,)  and  serious  apprehensions  were  entertained,  that  they  would 
disband  and  range  at  large  in  search  of  subsistence. 

The  hurried  manner  and  strong  language  of  the  subjoined  letter  will  show, 
either  that  a  very  serious  alarm  was  excited  in  camp,  or  that  the  quarter-mas- 

19  *  • 


•'{•-'  •  '  .  . 

146  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  -tor-general  knew  how,  when  necessary,  to  excite  it  in  others.    It  is  addressed 
v^v^w/  to  the  colonel  of  the  JMoi  ristown  militia. 

•> 

"The  army  is  upon  the  point  of  disbanding  for  want  of  provisions;  the 
poor  soldiers  having  been  several  days  without  any,  and  there  not  being  more 
than  a  sufficiency  to  serve  one  regiment  in  the  magazine.  Provisions  are 
scarce  at  best;  but  the  late  terrible  storm,  the  depth  of  the  snow  and  the  drifts 
in  the  roads,  prevent  the  little  stock  from  coming  forward  which  is  in  readiness 
at  the  distant  magazines.  This  is,  therefore,  to  request  you  to  call  upon  the 
militia  officers  and  men  of  your  battalion,  to  turn  out  their  teams  and  break 
the  roads  between  this  and  Hatchetstown,  there  being  a  small  quantity  of 
provisions  there  that  cannot  come  on  until  that  is  done.  The  roads  must  be 
kept  open  by  the  inhabitants,  or  the  army  cannot  be  subsisted.  And  unless 
the  good  people  immediately  lend  their  assistance  to  forward  supplies,  the  army 
must  disband.  The  dreadful  consequences  of  such  an  event  I  will  not  torture 
your  feelings  with  a  description  of;  but  remember,  the  surrounding  inhabitants 
will  experience  the  first  melancholy  effects  of  such  a  raging  evil.  We  would 
give  you  assistance  were  it  in  our  power,  but  the  army  is  stripped  as  naked  of 
teams  as  possible  to  lessen  the  consumption  of  forage,  which  has  reduced  us  to 
such  straits  as  render  us  unable,  with  the  teams  we  have,  to  do  the  duty  called 
for  in  camp. 

"^You  will  call  to  your  aid  the  overseers  of  highways,  and  every  other  order 
of  men  who  can  give  dispatch  and  success  to  the  business. 

"  P.'S.  Give  no  copies  of  this  for  fear  it  should  get  to  the  enemy." 

Let  this  serve  as  a  specimen  of  the  arduous  duties  that  Greene's  office  im 
posed  upon  him.  For  the  manner  in  which  those  duties  were  discharged, 
there  exist  voluminous  proofs  of  his  guileless  integrity,  and  even  scrupulous 
attention  to  economy.  The  fair  gains  of  his  subordinate  agents  he  felt  no 
disposition  to  curtail,  nor  would  he  readily  lend  an  car  to  complaints  against 
them.  Yet  wherever  retrenchments  were  practicable,  they  were  sternly 
insisted  on,  and  where  complaints  appeared  founded  in  probable  causes,  the 
faulty  could  not  escape.  Were  we  disposed  to  encumber  these  pages  with 
letters  not  essential  to  display  the  opinions,  character,  talents,  and  worth  of 
their  subject,  volumes  might  be  compiled  of  the  evidence  in  his  vindication. 
But  the  following  letter  from  the  commander  in  chief  supercedes  the  necessity 
of  all  others,  on  this  subject ;  and  though  out  of  its  chronological  order,  it 
becomes  proper  to  introduce  it  under  this  head. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE,  147 


CHAP. 
V. 


"  HEAD  QUARTERS,  ORANGETOWN,  August  15th,  1780. 
«<  SIR, 

"  As  you  are  retiring  from  the  office  of  quarter-master-gcneral,  and  have 
requested  my  sense  of  your  conduct  and  services  while  you  acted  in  it,  I  shall 
give  it  to  you  with  the  greatest  cheerfulness  and  pleasure. 

"  You  conducted  the  various  and  important  duties  of  it  with  capacity  and 
diligence,  entirely  to  my  satisfaction,  and,  as  far  as  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
knowing,  with  the  strictest  integrity. 

"When  you  were  prevailed  on  to  undertake  the  office  in  March  1778,  it 
was  in  great  disorder  and  confusion,  and  by  extraordinary  exertions,  you  so 
arranged  it  as  to  enable  the  army  to  take  the  field  the  moment  it  was  neces 
sary,  and  to  move  with  rapidity  after  the  enemy  when  they  left  Philadelpliia. 

"  From  that  period  to  the  present  time,  your  exertions  have  been  equally 
great ;  have  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  result  of  system,  and  to  have  been  well 
calculated  to  promote  the  interest  and  honour  of  your  country ;  and,  in  fine,  I 
cannot  but  add,  that  the  states  have  had  in  you,  in  my  opinion,  an  able, 
upright,  and  diligent  servant." 

General  Greene's  resignation  as  quarter-master-general,  did  not  take  place 
until  the  month  of  August  1780,  and  he  voluntarily  continued  to  act  for  some 
time  after  that  day,  until  his  successor,  Colonel  Pickering,  had  been  duly 
initiated.  Several  interesting  occurrences  in  his  military  life,  are  of  a  prior 
date  to  his  resignation,  but  we  will,  for  the  present,  follow  him  to  that  event, 
and  then  return  to  those  of  his  military  history. 

From  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  the  discussions  in  congress  relative 

O 

to  his  department,  the  office  was  to  General  Greene  an  irksome  and  disagree 
able  post.  He  had  himself  been  considerably  soured  by  the  facility  with 
which  members  of  that  body  gave  themselves  up  to  jealousy  and  suspicion, 
and,  as  he  declares  in  one  of  his  letters,  found  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  com 
municate  with  them  in  that  temper,  which  both  his  station  and  theirs  exacted 
of  him.  ."* 

They,  brf  their  part,  were  under  the  influence  of  very  many  causes  to  render 
them  irritable—even  fretful.  Feebly  supported  by  the  states  in  keeping  up  the 
army,  disappointed  in  their  hopes  of  peace,  chagrined  at  receiving  so  little, 
where  they  expected  so  much  aid  from  their  ally,  they  were  but  ill  prepared 
for  the  additional  mortification  of  waking  to  disappointment  from  all  the 


148  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   dreams  of  financial  prosperity  with  which  they  had  been  flattered  in  their  new 
^^-*^  system.  « 

Unhappy. is  the  condition  of  the  public  officer,  who  has  to  importune  such 
a  body,  under  such  circumstances,  for  supplies  of  money.  And  yet  the  most 
pressing  necessity  amidst  the  distresses  of  this  cold  winter,  obliged  Greene  to 
be  more  than  ordinarily  importunate  with  congress  to  obtain  indispensable 
advances. 

Had  he  been  suffering  alone,  the  evil  might  have  been  borne ;  but  tortured 
by  witnessing  the  distresses  of  the  army,  and  less  affected  by  their  clamours 
than  by  die  example  of  patient  suffering  diat  they  exhibited,  his  temper, 
although  remarkably  equable  in  its  ordinary  movements,  was  scarcely  proof 
against  the  trials  to  which  it  was  subjected. 

The  following  brief  sketch  is  from  his  pen,  and  bears  date  the  llth  of  Janu 
ary  1780. 

» 

"  Such  weather  as  we  have  had,  never  did  I  feel.  For  six  or  eight  days  it 
has  been  so  extremely  cold,  that  there  was  no  living  abroad ;  the  snow  is  also 
very  deep,  and  much  drifted ;  it  is  so  much  so,  that  we  drive  over  the  tops  of 
the  fences.  In  the  midst  of  snow  and  surrounded  on  every  side  by  its  banks, 
the  army  has  been  cut  off  from  its  magazines,  and  been  obliged  to  fast  for 
several  days  together.  We  have  been  alternately  out  of  meat  and  bread  for 
eight  or  nine  days  past,  and  without  either  for  three  or  four.  The  distress  of 
the  army  has  been  exceedingly  great  from  the  weather,  want  of  clothing  and 
provisions.  But  the  soldiers  have  borne  it  with  great  patience  and  fortitude. 
They  have  displayed  a  degree  of  magnanimity  under  their  sufferings  which 
does  them  the  highest  honour."  "  Provisions  are  scarce  indeed,  not  from  any 

scarcity  in  the  country,  but  from  want  of  money  to  purchase  it." 

i 

It  will  be  remembered,  that  at  this  time  the  United  States  was  under  the 
pressure  of  the  "  full  tide  of  unsuccessful  experiment,"  flowing  from  their  cele 
brated  regulating  act.  Every  department  of  the  army  was  consequently  sus 
taining  the  extra-embarrassment  of  an  artificial  scarcity.  On  this  subject,  in 
fye  same  letter  Greene  remarks,  "  The  states  are  coming  very  fast  into  the 
regulating  act.  Many  expect  great  things  from  it;  for  my  part,  I 'do  not.  It 
will  have  its  usual  operation  and  conclusion.  It  was  never  successful,  even 
tinder  the  most  arbitrary  governments." 

And  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Greene  of  the  8th  October  1779,  after  dilating 
on  his  increasing  embarrassments,  he  expresses  the  following  correct  and 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  149 

practical  sentiments  on  the  operation  of  this  law :  "  There  have  been  great  CHAP. 
pains  taken,  from  east  to  west,  to  regulate  the  produce  and  commerce  of 
country.  I  viewed  the  thing  as  impracticable  from  the  beginning.  It  was 
rather  to  be  wished  for,  than  expected ;  how  it  will  terminate  is  yet  uncertain. 
But  from  what  I  see  and  hear  from  almost  every  quarter,  I  think  the  measure 
will  fail.  The  attempt  has  been  made  again  and  again,  in  Europe  and  Ame 
rica,  but  to  no  purpose.  The  commerce  of  mankind  must  be  free,  or  almost 
all  kind  of  intercourse  will  cease.  Regulation  stagnates  industry  and  creates 
an  universal  discontent.  Men  value  themselves  not  less  upon  the  privilege  of 
exercising  their  industry  in  trade,  than  on  the  gains  they  derive  from  it.  Even 
the  market  people  would  be  very  unhappy  to  be  cut  off  from  the  opportunity 
of  making  the  most  of  their  commodities.  There  is  a  pride  in  every  class  of 
people  in  displaying  their  ingenuity  in  their  transactions;  to  be  deprived  of 
this,  makes  them  restless  and  uneasy.  Give  men  even  more  than  they  ask  for 
a  thing,  and  they  will  not  be  satisfied  without  the  liberty  of  still  trying  to  make 
more  of  it." 

It  happened  also,  unfortunately,  that  at  this  time  there  was  a  subject  under 
discussion,  wrhich,  of  all  others,  was  least  likely  to  be  satisfactorily  adjusted 
between  a  public  body  and  a  man  of  delicate  feelings.  It  was  that  of  Greene's 
compensation  in  the  quarter-master-general's  department.  When  he  first 
entered  upon  that  office,  the  compensation  affixed  by  law  wras  a  commission. 
on  the  sums  expended.  But  when  those  sums  arose  to  a  great  nominal  amount, 
Greene  saw  clearly  that,  though  no  one  should  be  hardy  enough  directly  to 
impeach  his  integrity,  many  would  secretly  suspect  his  fidelity,  whilst  there 
existed  a  temptation  to  favour  the  increase  of  expense.  He  therefore,  at  a  very 
early  period,  signified  his  wish  that  the  compensation  should  be  changed  to  a 
fixed  salary,  and  the  amount  of  that  salary  was  the  subject  of  several  consulta 
tions.  To  present  a  just  view  of  his  wishes  and  conduct  in  this  delicate  affair, 
we  will  give  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  his  friend  Mr.  Petit,  addressed  to  a 
member  of  congress,  \vlio  consulted  him  upon  the  subject.  "  With  respect  to 
the  sum  that  would  be  satisfactory"  to  General  Greene  as  quarter-mastcr- 
gencral,  I  cannot  pretend  to  ascertain  it.  Were  he  looking  to  tin's  office  as 
one  he  would  wish  to  continue  in,  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  he  would  not 
accept  of  less  than  £3,000  currency  per  annum,  and  perhaps  he  might  demand 
£3jOOO  sterling.  But  as  I  am  confident  he  continues  in  from  other  motives 
than  a  view  of  gain,  and  wishes  to  leave  it  whenever  he  can,  consistently  with 
the  public  good  and  his  own  honour,  I  believe  he  will  neither  demand  nor 
accept  more  than  an  indemnification  for  his  expenses.  I  ground  this  opinion, 


150  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


v. 


CHAP,  as  well  on  what  I  have  heard  him  say  on  the  subject,  as  on  my  own  feelings, 
f  being  actuated  by  the  same  motives  as  to  a  continuance  in  office  as  I  suppose 
him  to  be." 

For  more  than  twelve  months  was  this  tantalizing  discussion  protracted,  and 
even  when  he  left  the  office  it  had  not  been  closed.  To  him,  this  state  of 
things  was  peculiarly  irksome ;  habituated  as  he  appears  to  have  been  to  gra 
duate  his  expenses  by  his  income,  and  never  to  be  guilty  of  the  folly  of  living 
beyond  it,  he  remained  all  this  time  uncertain  how  to  govern  himself  in  this 
particular;  and,  feelingly  alive  to  every  thing  that  could  even  bring  on  him 
the  indignity  of  a  suspicion,  he  felt  it  painful  to  act  under  circumstances  which 
exposed  him  to  imputations  which  his  soul  abhorred.  Yet  the  wishes  of  the 
commander  in  chief,  the  good  of  the  service,  die  affectionate  importunities  of 
his  brother  officers,  and  the  comforts  of  the  soldiers  required  the  sacrifice,  and 
he  made  it.  • 

As  early  as  the  7th  June  1 779,  a  committee  of  congress  had  been  appointed 
to  look  into  the  transactions  of  the  quarter-master  and  commissary-generals. 
It  consisted  of  the  Hon.  John  Dickinson,  Roger  Sherman,  and  John  Scudder. 
These  gentlemen  immediately  repaired  to  die  camp  to  prosecute  their  inquiries. 
The  language  in  which  the  resolution  appointing  these  gentlemen  was  ex 
pressed,  was  rather  grating  to  ears  that  coveted  and  claimed  to  be,  not  only 
innocent  but  unsuspected.  It  was  "  to  make  strict  inquiry  into  the  establish 
ment  and  contingent  expenses  of  the  quarter-master's  department,"  &c.  How 
ever,  with  a  slight  murmur,  Greene  made  every  effort  by  means  of  circulars 
to  his  agents,  and  a  clevelopement  of  all  his  personal  transactions,  to  give  those 
gentlemen  all  the  information  and  satisfaction  that  could  be  afforded  them ; 
and  they  returned  perfectly  satisfied  with  his  conduct,  and  henceforth  enlisted 
among  his  particular  friends. 

On  the  7th  May  in  the  following  year,  another  appointment  took  place  of  a 
committee  constituted  for  the  same  purpose.  Mr.  John  Mathcws  of  South 
Carolina,  was  a  member  of  that  committee,  and  to  those  who  were  acquainted 
with  his  excellent  character  it  will  be  enough  to  say,  that,  (in  an  apologetic 
letter  he  acknowledges)  "  he  entered  upon  the  task  of  investigation  with  the 
strongest  prejudices  against  Greene,  and  closed,  in  common  with  his  col 
leagues,  under  a  perfect  conviction  of  his  fidelity,  ability,  and  zeal."  That  a 
mutual  esteem  was  contracted  between  them,  on  this  occasion,  which  lasted 
through  life,  is  evidenced  by  the  remains  of  a  most  friendly  and  confidential 
correspondence  still  extant. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  151 

It  would  seem  that  congress  ought  now  to  have  been  satisfied.  To  attribute  CHAP. 
the  enormous  increase  of  expense  to  a  want  of  economy  or  arrangement, 
little  short  of  ridiculous,  after  the  public  acknowledgment  that,  in  their  own 
biassed  estimation,  their  money  had  sunk  to  forty  for  one,  and  that  too,  when 
compared  with  the  value  of  an  emiss-on  of  bills  of  credit  by  a  body  whose 
credit  had  been  blasted  by  the  failure  of  the  very  money  now  to  be  redeemed. 
But  the  rumour  had  gone  forth,  and  the  congress  was  surrounde'd  by  the 
whisperers  of  a  faction  who  sought  Greene's  ruin.  The  report  still  prevailed, 
that  he  was  acquiring  an  unbounded  fortune,  and  envy  fastened  her  fangs  upon 
him.  Alas!  had  his  country  but  known  the  lank  state  of  his  purse  as  well  as 
it  was  known  to  his  intimate  friends ;  instead  of  being  persecuted  by  suspicions, 
he  would  have  been  followed  by  that  admiration  which  is  the  merited  meed  of 
patriotism  and  integrity. — Fighting,  watching,  toiling,  for  ungrateful  employers, 
while  the  approaching  tread  of  poverty  alarmed  him  for  the  fate  of  an  in 
creasing  /amily. 

\\e  are  resolved  to  risk  nothing  upon  general  assertion ;  our  hero  shall  not 
be  the  creature  of  a  partial  imagination.  Let  his  own  words  depict  his  situ 
ation. 

/    -  /  ' 

.  To  his  early  friend  he  writes,  "  Many  people  have  propagated  a  report  that 
I  have  made  a  fortune  in  the  quarter-master-general's  department.  Some 
have  done  it  from  one  view,  some  from  another,  but  most  of  them  to  excite  a 
jealousy  and  distrust  among  the  people.  Was  the  fact  so,  I  should  feel  less 
uneasiness  on  the  occasion;  but  to  be  thought  rich,  and  at  the  same  time  to  be 
poor,  is  the  most  disagreeable  situation  in  the  world.  The  greater  part  of  my 
dependence  is  with  you,  and  the  funds  in  your  hands.  These,  you  advertize 
me  in  your  last,  are  nothing  very  considerable.  If  they  are  not,  I  am  poor 
indeed."  And  to  add  facts  to  the  evidence  of  words,  when  in  the  year  1 780, 
Mrs.  Greene  proposed  to  make  her  usual  visit  to  him,  when  the  army  was  sta 
tionary  in  winter  Quarters,  he  writes  to  a  friend  in  these  words:  "  I  shall  be 
exceedingly  obliged  to  you  to  furnish  Mrs.  Greene  with  cash  to  pay  her  ex 
penses  to  camp;  this  article  is  running  low  with  me." 

Nor  was  this  state  of  his  finances  the  consequence  of  improvidence  on  his 
part;  it  was  the  result  of  a  combination  of  circumstances  which  he  could  not 
control,  and  which  grew  chiefly  out  of  the  nature  of  the  service  in  which  he 
was  engaged. 

It  will  be  recollected,  that  he  was  acting  in  the  army  in  the  united  capacities 
of  quarter-master-general  and  major-general.  The  former  drew  to  his  quarters 


152  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  a  multitude  of  people,  while  the  latter  obliged  him  to  entertain  them  in  a  style 
^r^~+~> consonant  to  his  elevated  rank.  Although  far  from  being  inclined  to  ostenta 
tious  parade,  he  well  knew  the  necessity  of  maintaining  the  dignity  of  rank 
by  a  proper  display  of  liberality.  The  expenses  of  the  rich  are  the  inherit 
ance  of  the  poor,  and  with  the  materials  which  compose  an  army  more  espe 
cially,  the  sense  of  inferiority  must  be  kept  .up  by  maintaining  the  distance 
between  the  soldier  and  the  officer. 

To  maintain  a  proper  style  in  life  was,  at  that  time,  exceedingly  expensive. 
•In  the  midst  of  all  the  privations  of  war,  an  extravagant  style  of  living  had 
been  gradually  growing  on  the  habits  of  Philadelphia,  and  to  this  place,  his 
communications  with  congress  and  his  assistants,  frequently  called  him. 

To  the  propagation  of  these  habits  several  causes  contributed.  It  has 
always  been  the  result  of  an  extraordinary  circulation  of  a  representative  of 
property,  although  it  be  of  a  factitious  value.  Men  are  but  slow  -.alculators, 
and  easily  seduced  to  the  enjoyment  of  pleasures,  and  the  gratification  of 
vanity.  Fortunes  suddenly  acquired,  are  generally  foolishly  expended  The 
'  rage  for  speculation  which  followed  the  fluctuations  of  the  paper  curi°ncy, 
gave  many  opportunities  to  speculate  successfully ;  and  the  success  of  s»me 
individuals  in  privateering,  was  another  fruitful  source  of  a  sudden  increase  of 
riches.  These  causes,  added  to  the  great  influx  of  foreign  gentlemen  of  weak* 
and  distinction,  and  of  men  of  fortune  connected  with  the  government  from 
all  parts  of  the  union,  produced  an  extravagance  of  living,  Lot  easily  to  be 
borne  by  those  who  had  slender  private  fortunes.  On  the  officers  of  the 
army  it  fell  with  peculiar  weight ;  their  compensation  was  fixed  by  law,  and 
*<fven  that  irregularly  paid.  And  when  the  money  had  sunk  almost  to  nothing, 
still  the  obligation  remained,  under  every  disadvantage,  to  live  according  to 
their  rank. 

In  times  of  depreciation,  those  who  have  it  in  their  power  to  anticipate 
funds,  must  realize  a  profit;  but  to  those  who  have  to  wait  the  gradual  accu 
mulation  of  their  resources,  the  receipts  of  yesterday  are  to-day  reduced  to 
half  their  value. 

Greene  had  but  a  slender  private  fortune  when  he  entered  the  service.  In 
fact,  he  had  nothing  distinct  from  the  general  stock  of  the  family,  vested  in  the 
business  of  the  Potowome  and  Coventry  Mills.  In  1777  this  concern  was 
dissolved,  and  a  division  of  the  property  made  among  the  several  branches  of 
the  family.  To  him  was  assigned  a  small  unproductive  property  uear 
Charleston'!),  on  the  north  side  of  the  state ;  and  a  dividend  of  the  stock  and 
money  which  had  been  employed  in  the  business  of  the  concern.  These  funts 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  15 

, 

he  had  left  in  the  hands  of  his  brother  Jacob,  and  his  friend  Grifliu  Greene,  to  CHAP. 
be  employed  by  them  in  any  way  they  thought  proper  for  joint  benefit, 
pensating  themselves  by  an  allowance  for  the  trouble  of  conducting  the  busi 
ness.  Unfortunately,  these  funds  were  principally  employed  in  the  purchase 
of  shares  in  various  privateers,  and  before  the  close  of  the  war,  it  appears  to 
have  been  all  lost  The  following  brief,  but  pathetic  passage,  is  extracted  from 
a  letter  to  his  friend,  General  Henry  Lee,  written  near  the  close  of  the  war: 
"  My  circumstances  are  far  from  being  easy,  and  my  family  have  not  where 
to  put  their  heads.  It  is  men  in  my  situation,  in  the  progress  of  this  war,  who 
have  had  feelings  which  exceed  description.  Alas !  few  know  what  1  h^ve 
felt.  My  fondness  for  my  family  has  increased  my  distress.  Men  of  affluence 
have  been  in  quite  different  circumstances.  Public  virtue  is  best  proved  by 
private  sacrifices.  But  enough  of  this;  your  letter  has  thrown  me  into  these 
disagreeable  reflections." 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  1780,  congress  resolved  to  constitute  a  board  of 
commissioners  to  superintend  the  administration  of  the  staff.  Disagreeable 
and  embarrassing  as  such  an  appointment  must  have  been  to  Greene's  depart 
ment  under  any  circumstances,  it  was  rendered  intolerable  to  him  by  the 
appointment  of  General  Mifflin  at  the  head  of  it.  He  felt  it  as  an  indignity 
offered  not  only  to  himself,  but  to  the  commander  in  chief.  An  enemy  to  the 
fame  of  General  Washington  could  not  have  wished  for  a  station  better  calcu 
lated  to  thwart  and  embarrass  him,  than  one  that  would  cramp  and  embarrass 
the  operations  of  the  quarter-master's  department.  General  Mifllin  was  well 
known  to  be  personally  hostile  to  General  Washington.  General  Greene  had 
much  reason  to  believe  General  Mifflin  his  own  personal  enemy.  True  or 
false,  it  is  not  now  possible  to  determine,  but  we  are  in  possession  of  various 
communications  made  to  General  Greene  calculated  to  support  this  opinion. 
Indeed,  Greene  always  considered  the  persecution  he  had  sustained  as  having 
originated  among  the  adherents  of  Conway  and  Gates,  and  it  was  well 
known,  that  all  the  army  viewed  General  J\Iii)lin  as  the  secret  head  of  that 
faction. 

•  We  know  not  if  there  exists,  or  ever  was  published,  a  detailed  account  of 
that  mysterious  affair,  and  at  this  late  day  it  may  be  an  object  of  curiosity 
with  our  readers  to  know  what  were  the  received  opinions  on  the  subject,  of 
the  best  informed  persons  of  that  day.  This  we  shall  present  from  original 
papers  in  our  possession. 

When  General  Washington  was  hesitating  what  course  to  pursue  on  the 
embarkation  of  Sir  William  Howe  from  New  York  in  the  year  1777,  General 
Mifflin,  then  quarter-master-general,  was  exceedingly  importunate  with  him  to 

20 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  hasten  to  the  protection  of  Philadelphia.  General  Washington  was  unwilling 
-v^x  to  march  southwardly,  as  long  as  it  remained  doubtful  whether  Howe  "had  not 
sailed  for  Boston,  or  might  not  suddenly  return  and  ascend  the  North  River, 
in  co-operation  with  Burgoyne.  But  to  pacify  MilHin,  he  submitted  the  sub 
ject  to  a  council  of  war,  and  at  that  council  General  Greene  incurred  the 
unrelenting  hatred  of  Mifflin  by  opposing  successfully  his  wishes  to  march 
immediately  to  Philadelphia.  Not  that  Washington  or  Greene  had  any  seri 
ous  doubts  with  regard  to  the  real  destination  of  Howe,  but  they  thought  his 
fleet  would  be  sufficiently  delayed  in  ascending  the  Delaware,  to  enable  them 
to  reach  Philadelphia  in  time  to  oppose  him,  and  there  was,  therefore,  no 
necessity  to  leave  him  scope  for  the  execution  of  a  coup  de  main. 

Immediately  upon  this  disappointment  Mifllin  hastened  away  to  Philadel 
phia,  and  complaining  bitterly  that  Washington  had  given  himself  up  to  the 
influence  of  Greene,  and  sacrificed  Philadelphia  to  the  security  of  the  eastern 
section  of  the  union,  excited  a  distrust  and  hostility  against  the  former  which 
often  manifested  itself  during  the  war.  Afterwards,  when  the  starving  condi 
tion  of  the  army  at  Valley  Forge  obliged  him  to  resort  to  the  strong  means  of 
collecting  provisions  by  foraging  parties  as  if  he  had  been  in  an  enemy's  coun 
try,  and  die  execution  of  this  measure  was  given  to  Greene,  a  confirmed 
enmity  appeared  to  have  been  excited  against  both,  which  discovered  itself 
whenever  occasions  presented  themselves. 

In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  that  had  been  produced  by  General  Mifllin's 
complaints,  the  news  arrived  of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne.  The  battle  of 
Brandywine  had  then  been  lost,  Howe  was  in  possession  of  Philadelphia,  and 
congress  had  fled  to  Yorktown. 

The  honours  of  Washington  appeared  to  have  been  cast  into  the  shade  by 
the  brilliant  successes  of  Gates.  Impartial  history  will  one  day  decide  whether 
the  latter  did  not  reap  the  laurels  that  ought  to  have  graced  the  brows  of 
Schuyler,  of  Starke,  and  of  Arnold.  It  is  certain,  that  invidious  comparisons, 
unfavourable  to  Washington,  were  at  that  time  too  much  the  fashion  of  the 
day.  But  the  nation  and  die  army  knew  well  his  worth,  pnd  frowned  his 
enemies  into  silence.  Yet  certain  it  is,  diat  at  that  dine  he  had  enemies,  and 
among  them  were  ranked  Samuel  Adams,  the  Lees  of  Virginia,  Wilson  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  some  minor  characters.  Whether  the  design  was  to  sub 
stitute  Gates  or  Lee,  appeared  to  have  been  unsettled  among  the  party,  but 
certainly  to  substitute  one  or  the  other. 

Whether  General  Mifilin  ever  entered  deeply  into  the  views  of  the  party, 
cannot  now  be  ascertained.  It  is,  however,  very  certain,  that  but  for  the 
clamour  which  he  had  so  successfully  excited  against  the  commander  in  ciiie£ 


•MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  15S 

• 

Comvay  ncverwould  have  dared  to  prosecute  his  machinations.     The  confer-   CHAP. 
mity  of  their  views  fastened  upon  them,  in  the  public  estimation,  u  co-opera-  ^^J^^ 
tion  in  design. 

An  opinion  was  entertained,  on  some  evidence  against  Gates  and  Comvay, 
which  was  probably  not  unfounded  in  truth,  that  Samuel  Adams,  R.  H.  Lee, 
and  Mifflin,  had  it  in  contemplation  to  substitute  General  Lee  for  Washington, 
but  that  Gates  and  Conway  thought  it  a  favourable  opportunity  to  make  use 
of  the  discontents  of  that  party  to  supplant  him  themselves. 

We  know  not  if  there  exist  any  evidence  to  prove  that  General  Lee  had 
embarked  with  either  party.  On  the  contrary,  from  the  intercourse  kept  up 
between  Generals  Greene  and  Lee  during  their  lives,  we  are  induced  to  think 
he  had  not ;  or,  at  least,  that  Greene  entertained  a  favourable  opinion  of  his 
principles  and  conduct.  Lee  was  a  wrarm  man,  and  too  apt  to  speak  and  act 
with  indiscreet  freedom.  But  all  the  world  acknowledged  him  to  be  a  man 
of  honour,  and  of  soldierly  frankness.  He  had  censured  some  of  the  mea 
sures  of  General  Washington  \vith  a  degree  of  freedom  that  approached  to 
insubordination.  In  the  council  of  war  which  preceded  the  battle  of  Mon- 
mouth,  he  had  opposed  the  avowed  sentiment  of  Washington  to  fight  the 
enemy,  and  Washington  certainly  attributed  his  retreat,  in  that  battle,  to  an 
obstinate  adherence  to  his  own  opinion  in  violation  of  orders.  These  cir 
cumstances,  combined  with  the  known  wish  of  some  of  the  malecontents  in 
congress  to  substitute  him  for  Washington,  gave  rise  to  the  opinion  that  he 
had  taken  part  in' the  intrigues  against  the  commander  in  chief.  That  he 
would  have  accepted  the  command  and  been  gratified  in  it,  there  can  be  no 
doubt;  but  there  exists  no  evidence  of  his  having  actively  engaged  in  the  effort 
to  sink  General  Washington  in  the  estimation  of  the  public;  unless  his  conduct 
during  and  after  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  and  his  severe  animadversions  on 
the  affair  of  Fort  Washington,  receive  a  construction  of  which,  it  must  be 
acknowledged,  they  were  too  fairly  susceptible.  A  subordinate  officer  is  not 
at  liberty  to  raise  his  own  reputation  on  the  ruins  of  a  superior  in  command. 

With  respect  to  Gates  and  Conway,  the  evidence  was  such  as  left  not  a 
doubt  upon  the  public  mind.  It  is  w-ell  known  that  the  first  developement  of 
the  intrigue  was  made  at  the  table  of  Lord  Stirling,  by  a  gentleman  attached 
to  Gates'  family.  The  indiscretion  of  youth  and  the  unguarded  freedoms  of  a 
convivial  hour,  heightened  by  exultation  in  the  recent  triumphs  of  the  Ame 
rican  arms,  palliated,  but  did  not  excuse  the  unwary  communication.  Yet, 
pleasure  at  the  early  developement  of  an  intrigue  involving  the  interests  and 
affections  of  the  American  people,  closed  the  lips  of  censure,  and  the  commu 
nication  was  received  with  gratitude,  rather  than  with  the  feeling  which, 


156  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CIUP.  under  other  circumstances,  it  might  have  excited.  The  present  Major  General 
^~^-^s  Wilkinson  has,  in  his  Memoirs,  given  a  detailed  account  of  the  circumstances 
attending  the  communication.  Until  that  was  published,  it  was  supposed  to 
have  been  designedly  made  under  the  influence  of  patriotic  feelings,  but  it  is 
now  candidly  acknowledged  to  have  been  an  indiscretion.  General  Washino1- 
ton  at  first  thought  that  it  had  been  made  under  the  instructions  of  Gates,  as 
.-  the  means  of  evading  an  injunction  of  secrecy;  but  this  favourable  view  of  the 
subject  was  soon  removed  by  the  very  singular  letter  addressed  to  him  by  the 
latter,  and  disrespectfully  conveyed  through  the  president  of  congress.  In 
addition  to  this  information,  we  have  the  evidence  of  General  Morgan,  who 
was  then  serving  under  Gates,  and  who,  being  tampered  with,  as  he  consi 
dered  it,  by  Gates  upon  this  subject,  incurred  his  lasting  hatred  by  repulsin^ 
him  with  indignation.* 

As  to  Conway,  General  Washington  has  pronounced  him  "  an  active  and 
malignant  partizan."  The  freedoms  which  he  took  with  General  Washing 
ton's  conduct  involved  him  in  a  duel  with  General  Cadwallader.  \Vhen  he 
supposed  the  hour  of  retributive  justice  was  approaching,  (for  he  was  wounded 
and  his  life  was  in  serious  danger,)  General  Conway  wrote  a  penitent  letter  to 
General  Washington,  which  put  down  his  resentment  for  ever. 

The  offensive  passage  in  Comvay's  letter  to  Gates  was  this:  "  Heaven  has 
determined  to  save  your  country,  or  a  weak  general  and  bad  counsellors 
would  have  ruined  it."  And  it  is  remarkable,  that  in  the  anonymous  letters 
written  and  circulated  at  the  time,  were  the  following  passages:  "  The  north 
ern  army  has  shown  us  what  Americans  can  do  with  a  general  at  their  head. 
The  spirit  of  the  southern  army  is  no  ways  inferior  to  the  spirit  of  the  north 
ern;  a  Gates,  a  Lee,  or  a  Conway  would,  in  a  few  weeks,  render  them  an 
irresistible  body  of  men.  The  last  of  the  above  officers  has  accepted  of  the 
new  office  of  inspector-general  of  the  army,  in  order  to  reform  abuses,  but  the 
remedy  is  only  a  palliative  one."  In  one  of  his  (Conway's)  letters  to  a  friend 
he  says,  "  A  great  and  good  God  hath  decreed  America  to  be  free,  or  the 
commander  in  chief  and  weak  counsellors  would  have  ruined  her  long  ago." 
"  You  may  rest  assured  of  each  of  the  facts  related  in  tlu's  letter.  The  author 
of  it  is  one  of  your  Philadelphia  friends.  A  hint  of  his  name,  if  found  out  by 
the  handwriting,  must  not  be  mentioned  to  your  most  intimate  friend.  Even 
the  letter  must  be  thrown  in  the  fire." 


*  Lee's  Memoirs. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  157 

-The  copy  of  this  letter,  addressed  to  Patrick  Henry  was  not  thrown  in  the  CHAP. 
fire,  but  communicated  immediately,  as  it  ought  to  have  been,  to  the 
mander  in  chief.  And  he  on  the  comparison  of  hands,  had  no  doubt  to  which 
of  his  "  Philadelphia  friends"  he  was  indebted  for  it.  In  General  Washing 
ton's  answer  to  Governor  Henry,  he  attributes  it  to  the  late  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush.  Both  letters  are  said  to  be  still  in  existence  in  Richmond,  Va.  and  the 
correctness  of  the  opinion  of  General  Washington  may  still  be  tested.  But,  if 
it  be  true  that  this  amiable  and  excellent  man  was  thus  made  the  dupe  and 
secret  agent  of  this  faction,  it  is  but  another  cause  for  public  indignation,  while 
it  affords  a  melancholy  proof  of  the  errors  into  which  the  purest  of  men  may 
be  precipitated. 

We  are  in  possession  of  various  communications  to  prove  that  the  "  weak 
counsellors"  of  this  best  of  men,  who  had  incurred  the  envenomed  hatred  of 
the  party,  were  Generals  Greene  and  Knox,  who  were  supposed  to  possess  his 
private  ear,  and  were  known  to  be  his  faithful  and  affectionate  adherents.  As 
to  the  former,  he  had  been  involved  in  a  variety  of  occurrences  which  had 
rendered  Mifflin,  Gates,  and  Conway  individually  hostile  to  him. 

The  first  of  these  gentlemen  had  been  at  the  head  of  the  quarter-master- 
general's  department  before  Greene  took  charge  of  it;  and  the  just  complaints 
against  that  department  had  first  excited  a  disgust  against  the  commander  in 
chief.  As  to  Greene,  when  could  man  tolerate  a  comparison  that  resulted  to 
his  disadvantage  ?  Where  is  the  predecessor  in  a  public  office  who  can  hear 
the  praises  of  his  successor  sounded,  without  one  disagreeable  sensation? 
There  is  a  natural  rivalship  in  the  heart  of  man  between  those  who  have  stood 
in  that  relationship  to  each  other,  which  the  wisest  can  with  difficulty  restrain. 

That  the  reader  may  himself  be  enabled  to  draw  a  comparison,  we  will 
refer  him  to  the  letter  of  General  Washington  of  the  loth  August  1780,  in  a 
preceding  page,  and  then  to  the  following  extracts  from  the  report  of  a  com 
mittee  of  congress  appointed  to  inspect  the  state  of  the  army,  when  it  lay  at 
Valley  Forge,  at  which  time  General  Mifllin  acted  in  that  department:  "  We 
had  flattered  ourselves  that  before  this  time  the  pleasure  of  congress  would  be 
made  known  to  us,  respecting  the  quarter-master's  department.  We  fear  our 
letter  on  this  subject  has  miscarried,  or  the  consideration  of  it  yielded  to  other 
business.  You  will  pardon  us,  sir,  when  we  again  solicit  your  attention  to  it 
as  an  object  of  the  last  importance,  on  which  not  only  the  future  success  of  our 
arms,  but  the  present  existence  of  our  army  immediately  depends.  The  influ 
ence  of  this  office  is  so  diffusive  through  every  part  of  our  military  system,  that 
neither  the  wisdom  of  arrangement,  the  spirit  of  cnterprize,  or  favourable 
opportunity  will  be  of  any  avail,  if  this  great  wheel  in  the  machine  stops,  OF 


158  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  moves  heavily.  We  find  Ourselves  embarrassed  in  entering  on  this  subject, 
^^^,\cst  a  bare  recital  of  facts  should  carry  an  imputation  (which  we  do  not  intend) 
on  those  gentlemen  who  have  lately  conducted  it.  We  are  sensible,  great  and 
just  allowances  are  to  be  made  for  the  peculiarity  of  their  situation,  and  we 
are  perhaps,  not  fully  acquainted  with  all  their  difficulties.  It  is  our  duty,  sir, 
to  inform  you,  it  is  not  our  intention  to  censure.  We  find,  sir,  the  property  of 
the  continent  dispersed  over  the  whole  country.  Not  an  encampment,  route 
of  the  army,  or  considerable  road,  but  abounds  with  waggons  left  to  the  mercy 
of  the  weather,  and  the  will  of  the  inhabitants.  Large  quantities  of  entrench 
ing  tools  have  likewise  been  left  in  various  hands  under  no  other  security  that 
we  can  learn,  than  the  honesty  of  those  who  have  them  in  possession.  No 
less  than  three  thousand  spades  and  shovels,  and  the  like  number  of  toma 
hawks  have  lately  been  discovered  and  collected  in  the  vicinity  of  the  camp, 
by  an  order  from  one  of  the  general  officers.  In  the  same  way  a  quantity  of 
tents  and  tent-cloth,  after  laying  a  whole  summer  in  a  farmer's  barn,  was  lately 
discovered  and  brought  to  camp,  by  a  special  order  from  the  commander  in 
chief."  And  thus  the  report  goes  on  to  state,  that  the  soldiers  were  sickening 
and  dying  for  want  of  straw,  and  waiting  to  be  inoculated  until  they  could  be 
supplied  with  an  article  which  could  not  be  procured  merely  because  there 
were  not  waggons  to  transport  it,  and  that  all  the  service  of  that  kind  per 
formed  in  camp,  was  done  by  the  men,  who  yoked  themselves  to  the  vehicle 
for  that  purpose ;  and,  "  finally,  that  nothing  can  equal  the  sufferings  of  the 
soldiers,  but  the  patience  and  fortitude  with  which  the  faithful  part  of  the  army 
endured  it  Those  of  a  different  character  deserted  in  great  numbers.  At 
present,  sir,  there  is  not  one  gentleman  of  any  rank  in  this  department  in 
camp,  [nor  had  there  been  since  July,]  though  the  duties  of  the  office  require 
constant  and  unremitting  attention.  In  whatever  view,  therefore,  the  subject 
presents  itself,  we  trust  that  you  will  discern  that  the  most  essential  interests  are 
connected  with  it.  The  season  of  preparation  for  the  next  campaign  is  passing 
s\\  iftly  away.  Be  assured,  sir,  that  its  operation  will  be  ineffectual  either  for 
offence  or  protection,  if  an  arrangement  is  not  immediately  made,  and  the 
most  vigorous  exertions  used  to  procure  die  necessary  supplies.  Permit  us  to 
say,  that  a  moment's  time  is  not  to  be  lost  in  placing  a  man  of  approved  abilities 
and  extensive  capacity  at  the  head  of  the  department;  who  icill  restore  it  to 
some  degree  of  order  and  regularity;  whose  provident  care  will  immediately 
relieve  the  present  wants  of  the  army,  and  extend  itself  to  those  which  must  be 
satisfied  before  we  can  expect  vigour,  enterprize,  and  success." 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  General  Mil'ilin  should  look  with  an  evil  eye 
upon  the  man  who  was  appointed  to  the  quarter-master-general's  department 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  159 

under  the  influence  of  this  report,  and  at  the  pressing  instance  of  the  commit-   CHAP. 
tee  who  made  it     His  irritation  vented  itself  occasionally  in  disrespectful  ^r^s^s 
expressions,  which  were  communicated  to  General  Greene,  and  the  result 
was,  that  there  existed  much  coolness,  if  not  actual  enmity  between  them. 

As  to  General  Gates,  it  will  be  recollected  how  much  Wasliington  exhausted 
himself  to  support  the  operations  against  Burgoyne,  and  what  tardy  obedience 
Gates  paid  to  his  pressing  order  to  march  to  the  support  of  the  grand  army, 
after  he  had  triumphed  over  his  enemy.  Greene  entered  warmly  on  this  occa 
sion,  into  the  feelings  of  the  commander  in  chief,  as  he  participated  largely  in 
all  the  embarrassments  which  pressed  upon  him  at  the  time.  And  afterwards, 
when,  upon  the  failure  of  the  expedition  against  Rhode  Island  and  the  recall 
of  Sullivan,  Gates  was  put  in  command  of  the  army  which  held  in  check  the 
British  force  at  Newport,  that  officer  appears  to  have  indulged  himself  in  much 
latitude  of  censure  upon  the  manner  in  which  that  expedition  was  conducted. 
We  are  in  possession  of  some  very  angry  letters  of  Greene  on  this  subject, 
from  which  it  is  obvious  that  the  latter  felt  himself  seriously  injured.  Nor  did 
the  evil  rest  here.  When  it  was  deemed  necessary  that  an  officer  should  be 
despatched  to  the  south  to  relieve  Charleston  when  besiged,  or  cover  the  coun 
try  in  the  event  of  its  fall,  General  Washington  wished  to  nominate  General 
Greene  to  that  command.  But  congress  took  the  appointment  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  commander  in  chief,  and  nominated  Gates — to  the  equal  mortification 
of  both  Washington  and  Greene. 

As  to  Conway,  Greene  had  been  instrumental  in  bringing  upon  him  a 
mortification  which  could  never  be  forgiven.  In  a  subjoined  letter  we  will 
present  the  reader  with  a  view  of  the  intrigue  by  which  Conway  obtained  the 
appointment  of  inspector-general  of  the  army.  This  appointment  affected  the 
rank  of  the  brigadiers  in  the  army,  and  they  immediately  addressed  to  con 
gress  a  strong  and  animated  remonstrance,  in  which  they  evinced  that  they 
were  as  ready  and  able  to  defend  their  own  rights  by  the  pen,  as  those  of  their 
^country  by  the  sword.  Greene  as  well  as  Wasliington,  took  a  decided  part 
against  him,  and  Conway,  who  had  thought  himself  securely  seated  on  the 
first  stage  of  his  military  ascent,  was  obliged  to  retire ;  and  the  congress  were 
not  a  little  chagrined  at  being  convinced  that  they  had  acted  unjustly  towards 
the  remonstrants,  and  unwisely  towards  the  interests  of  the  country  at  large. 
This  event  inclined  too  many  of  them,  afterwards,  to  lend  a  willing  ear  to  the 
malicious  suggestions  of  Conway  and  his  associates  against  Washington  and 
Greene.  Besides  this,  Greene  entertained  a  very  contemptible  opinion  of 
Conway,  and  in  his  deportment  towards  him  was  never  studious  to  conceal  it 


|60  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.       Pursuing  our  resolution  of  furnishing  every  opportunity  to  our  reader  to 
,form  his  own  opinion  of  the  character,  talents,  and  turn  of  thinking  of  our 
hero,  we  will  subjoin  two  letters,  written  on  the  subjects  which  have  last  occu-. 
pied  our  attention. 

They  are  both  dated  at  Camp  Valley  Forge  1778.  The  first  is  on  the  3d  of 
January. 

"  Our  army  are  tenting  themselves  at  this  place ;  they  are  almost  worn  out 
with  fatigue  and  greatly  distressed  for  want  of  clothing,  particularly  the  articles 
of  shoes  and  stockings.  The  present  mode  of  clothing  the  army  will  always 
leave  us  without  a  sufficient  supply.  The  change  in  the  commissary  depart 
ment  has  been  a  very  distressing  circumstance ;  the  army  has  been  fed  from 
hand  to  mouth  ever  since  Mr.  Trumbull  left  it.  Our  operations  have  been 
greatly  retarded  from  the  situation  of  the  commissary  department.  The 
quarter-master-general's  department  also  has  been  in  a  most  wretched  condi 
tion.  General  Miftlin,  who  ought  to  have  been  at  the  head  of  the  business, 
has  never  been  with  the  army  since  it  came  into  the  state.  He  was  unwell  the 
early  part  of  the  season,  but  it  is  said  he  is  disgusted  with  the  general  for  not 
paying  such  mighty  deference  to  him  as  his  vanity  leads  him  to  think  himself 
entitled  to.  I  am  credibly  informed,  he  has  been  endeavouring  to  wound  the 
general's  reputation,  in  order  to  bring  in  General  Gates  at  the  head  of  the 
army;  and  for  fear  I  should  be  an  obstacle  to  his  measures,  he  has  thrown  out 
some  insinuations  to  my  prejudice.  I  am  but  little  afraid  of  his  insinuations. 
He  may  possibly  poison  the  public  mind  for  a  time,  but  he  cannot  injure  me 
in  the  army,  where  my  conduct  is  best  .known. 

"  The  congress  have  lately  appointed  Colonel  Wilkinson  to  the  rank  of  a 
brigadier  and  Brigadier  General  Conway  to  the  rank  of  major  general.  Both 
these  appointments  are  exceedingly  disgusting  to  the  army;  the  first  to  the 
colonels,  the  last  to  the  brigadiers.  The  army  is  exceedingly  convulsed  by 
these  appointments,  and  God  knows  what  will  be  the  issue.  Almost  all  the 
colonels  in  the  army  will  resign  in  consequence  of  Wilkinson's  appointment 
General  Gates  is  exceedingly  blamed  for  recommending  the  measure. 

"  General  Conway  is  a  man  of  much  intrigue  and  little  judgment.  He  is  a 
great  incendiary,  of  a  restless  spirit,  and  always  contriving  to  puff  himself  oft' 
to  the  public  as  an  officer  of  great  consequence.  He  left  the  army  under  pre 
tence  of  going  to  France,  alleging  for  reason  that  there  was  the  greatest  proba 
bility  of  a  French  war,  and  that  he  should  injure  his  interests  by  staying 
here.  Every  body  in  the  army  thought  he  was  gone.  But  he  stole  away  to 
congress,  announced  his  intention  of  going  to  France,  got  in  with  some  of  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE,  161 

court  faction  to  trumpet  his  consequence  to  the  congress,  and  they  hastily  cmf. 
appointed  him  a  major  general,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  brigadiers,  who  to  a  ^^^i^, 
man  will  resign  their  commissions  if  he  holds  his  rank  and  remains  in  the 
army.  This  appointment  appears  to  have  been  obtained  by  such  low  artifices 
that  every  body  in  the  army  despises  him  for  it.  The  Marquis  La  Fayette, 
and  all  the  other  French  gendemen,  will  scarcely  speak  to  him.  He  is  the 
greatest  novice  in  war,  in  every  thing  but  disciplining  a  regiment,  that  ever  I 
saw.  He  is  by  no  means  of  an  enterprizing  military  turn  of  mind,  and  of 
very  little  activity.  This  is  the  true  character  of  the  man,  and  yet  he  is 
palmed  off  upon  the  public  by  little  arts,  as  the  first  military  man  upon  the 
continent. 

•  "  Our  cause  is  sure,  if  we  do  not  get  divided  among  ourselves.  But  there 
is  great  danger  that  we  shall.  Men  of  great  ambition,  and  without  principle 
or  virtue,  will  sacrifice  every  thing  to  their  private  views.  The  army  in  gene 
ral  has  been  very  well  united ;  but  I  am  afraid  the  injudicious  appointments 
made  in  congress  will  ruin  it. 

"You  mention  my  letter  to  Governor  Cook,  in  which  I  pronounce  the  divi 
sion  of  the  British  force  as  a  fortunate  circumstance  for  America.  The  events 
of  the  campaign  have  verified  it  And  had  our  force  been  equal  to  General 
Howe's,  or  at  least  as  much  superior  as  the  northern  army  was  to  Burgoyne's, 
he  must  have  shared  the  same  fate.  But  alas!  we  have  fonght  with  vastly 
superior  numbers,  and  although  twice  defeated,  have  kept  the  field.  History 
affords  but  few  examples  of  the  kind.  The  people  may  think  there  has  not 
been  enough  done,  but  our  utmost  endeavours  have  not  been  wanting.  Our 
army  with  inferior  numbers,  badly  found,  badly  clothed,  worse  fed,  and  newly 
levied,  must  have  required  good  generalship  to  triumph  over  superior  numbers 
well  found,  well  clothed,  well  fed  and  veteran  soldiers.  We  cannot  conquer 
the  British  force  at  once,  but  they  cannot  conquer  us  at  all.  The  limits  of  the 
British  government  in  America  are  their  out-sentinels. 

"  Reports  prevail  very  strongly  again  of  a  French  \var.  I  honestly  confess 
to  you  I  do  not  believe  it;  for  France  can  have  no  pretext  for  declaring  war, 
and  certainly  it  is  not  the  interest  of  Great  Britain  to  do  it.  But  nevertheless 
it  may  happen.  I  wish  congress  may  not  be  lulled  into  security  from  their  late 
successes  to  the  north,  and  their  hopes  of  a  French  explosion.  It  is  our  busi 
ness  to  levy  a  new  army  as  soon  as  possible;  each  state  to  furnish  its  propor 
tion  by  a  draft.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  filling  the  army  by  voluntary 
enlistments  as  speedily  as  will  be  necessary  to  open  the  campaign  to  advan 
tage.  Each  state  will  be  compelled  hereafter  to  furnish  clothing  for  their  own 
troops.  The  present  mode  of  clothing  the  army  is  ruinous.  We  have  had 

21 


162  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  3,000  soldiers  unfit  for  duty  for  want  of  clothing,  this  fall  and  winter.  The 
^~^^j  Rhode  Island  troops  have  done  themselves  great  honour  this  campaign.  Col. 
Greene's  character  is  in  high  estimation.  Major  Thayer  distinguished  himself 
at  Fort  Mifflin,  and  has  acquired  universal  applause.  Your  troops  are  gene 
rally  exceedingly  \vell  ofliccred  from  the  northward  this  year.  General  Gates 
is  a  child  of  fortune,  the  successes  to  the  northward  are  all-glorious.  General 
Arnold. and  General  Lincoln  are  in  high  esteem;  and  it  is  said  General  Bur- 
goync  gives 'Arnold  the  credit  for  the  successes  obtained  over  him. 

"  I  am  happy  that  the  work  is  but  done;  I  do  not  care  who  does  it.  But  I 
should  like  to  have  a  hand  in  the  mischief. 

"I  have  no  hope  of  coming  home  this  winter;  the  general  will  not  grant 
me  permission.  Mrs.  Greene  is  coming  to  camp.  We  are  all  going  into  log 
huts — a  sweet  life  after  a  most  fatiguing  campaign." 

The  other  letter  bears  date  the  7th  of  February  following.  The  following  is 
an  extract  from  it:  "Governor  Cook  wrote  me  a  few  days  since  a  most 
alarming  letter  respecting  the  situation  of  Rhode  Island.  Mr.  Ellery  proposed 
to  me  to  take  the  command  there,  provided  it  was  agreeable  to  his  excellency; 
but  he  is  totally  averse  to  the  measure.  General  Spencer  has  resigned ;  who 
will  take  the  command  I  know  not;  I  wish  General  Sullivan  may,  as  I  can 
think  of  no  person  who  will  do  it  more  justice.  I  am  in  hopes  to  prevail  on 
the  general  to  let  the  Rhode  Island  troops  return  home,  and  there  continue 
until  the  enemy  leaves  the  state.  I  flatter  myself  they  will  fill  up  their  ranks 
very  soon  if  they  go  home  with  that  understanding. 

"  A  horrid  faction  has  been  forming  to  ruin  his  excellency  and  others.  Am 
bition,  how  boundless!  Ingratitude,  how  prevalent!  But  the  faction  are 
universally  condemned.  General  Mifflin  is  said  to  be  at  the  head  of  it.  And 
it  is  strongly  suspected  that  General  Gates  favours  it.  Mifflin  has  quarrelled 
with  the  general,  because  he  would  not  draw  the  force  off  to  the  southward 
last  summer  and  leave  the  Ne\v  England  states  to  themselves,  before  the  enc- 
'  jny's  object  was  ascertained.  It  was  uncertain  whether  he  intended  to  go  up 
the  North  River,  to  Newport,  or  to  the  southward.  The  general  thought  it 
his  duty  to  take  a  position  to  give  the  earliest  support  to  either.  Mifflin  thought 
Philadelphia  was  exposed  by  it,  and  went  there  and  raised  a  prodigious  cla 
mour  against  the  measure,  and  against  me  for  advising  it.  But  the  general, 
like  the  common  father  of  all,  steadily  pursued  the  great  continental  interest, 
without  regard  to  partial  objects,  and  the  discontents  of  individuals.  This 
faction  has  been  the  offspring  of  that  measure.  See  upon  what  a  monstrous 
principle  the  general  is  persecuted.  To  injure  his  reputation,  and  prejudice 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  163- 

<he  country  and  army  against  me,  General  Mifflin  has  been  endeavouring  to  CHAP. 
persuade  them  that  I  governed  the  general  in  all  things."     "  I  hope  my  little  ^~^^s 
children  arc  well-    .Money  becomes  more  and  more  the  Americans'  objccV 
You  must  get  rich,  or  you  will  be  of  no  consequence." 

T      .."    ".••'"• 

.  We  will  furnish  the  reader  with  but  one  more  extract  on  this  subject.  It  i* 
from  a  book  not  long  since  published,  but  the  authority  of  which  is  very 
respectable,  since  it  carries  on  the  face  of  it  abundant  circumstances  of  identi 
fication  to  be  pronounced  the  work  of  Captain  Gray  don,  of  the  Pennsylvania 
line.  It  is  entitled,  "  Memoirs  of  a  Life  chief y  passed  in  Pennsylvania  the  last 
sixty  years."  The  passage  is  this :  "  Besides  the  families  established  in  this 
place,  [Reading,]  it  was  seldom  without  a  number  of  visiters,  gentlemen  of 
the  army  and  others.  General  Mifflin,  at  this  era,  was  at  home,  a  chief  out  of 
war,  complaining,  though  not  ill,  considerably  malecontent,  and  apparently 
not  in  high  favour  at  head  quarters.  According  to  him,  the  ear  of  the  com 
mander  in  chief  was  exclusively  possessed  by  Greene,  who  was  represented  to 
be  neither  the  most  wise,  the  most  brave,  nor  the  most  patriotic  of  counsellors. 
In  short,  the  campaign  in  this  quarter  was  stigmatized,  as  a  series  of  blunders, 
and  the  incapacity  of  those  who  had  conducted  it,  unsparingly  reprobated. 
The  better  fortune  of  the  northern  army  was  ascribed  to  the  superior  talents 
of 'its  leader,  and  it  began  to  be  whispered  that  Gates  was  the  man  who  should 
of  right  have  the  station  so  incompetently  sustained  by  Washington.  Them 
was,  to  all  appearance,  a  cabal  forming  for  his  deposition,  in  which  it  is  not 
improbable  that  Gates,  Mifilin,  and  Comvay  were  already  engaged,  and  in 
which  the  congenial  spirit  of  Lee,  on  his  exchange,  immediately  took  share. 
The  well  known  apostroplie  of  Conway  to  America,  importing  that  heaven 
had  passed  a  decree  in  her  favour,  or  her  ruin  must  long  before  have  ensued 
from  the  imbecility  of  her  military  councils,  was  at  this  time  familiar  at  Read 
ing;  and  I  heard  him  myself  when  he  was  afterwards  on  a  visit  to  that  place, 
express  himself  to  this  effect:  '  That  no  man  was  more  a  gentleman  than 
"Washington,  or  appeared  to  more  advantage  at  his  table,  or  in  the  usual  inter 
course  of  life,  but  as  to  his  talents  for  the  command  of  an  army,  (with  a 
French  &hrug,)  they  v:ere  miserable  indeed.1  Observations  of  this  kind  con 
tinually  repeated,  could  not  fail  to  make  an  impression  within  the  sphere  of 
their  circulation,  and  it  may  be  said  that  the  popularity  of  the  commander  in 
chief  was  a  good  deal  impaired  at  Reading."* 


*  Page  27S. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

When  all  these  circumstances  are  added  to  the  embarrassment  brought  on 
army  during  the  campaign  of  1777  and  the  winter  following,  from  the 
defective  administration  of  the  quarter-master's  department,  over  which  Gene 
ral  Mitflin  presided,  it  was  impossible  for  both  Greene  and  Washington  to 
view  his  appointment  as  chairman  of  the  commissioners  for  superintending  the 
staff  of  the  army  otherwise  than  personally  offensive.  And  it  was  soon  after 
followed  up  by  a  succession  of  acts  of  a  nature  too  unequivocal  not  to  furnish 
Greene  with  the  occasion  he  had  long  wished  for,  to  resign  without  commit 
ting  his  honour  or  his  patriotism. 

All  the  money  that  had  been  drawn  by  die  department,  had  passed  through 
the  hands  of  Colonel  Petit.  That  gentleman  thinking  that  he  was  often  un 
reasonably  delayed  and  embarrassed  by  the  treasury  board,  some  warm  alter 
cation  had  ensued  between  them.  On  the  3d  of  May  that  board  passed  a 
resolve,  "  that  the  accounts  and  vouchers  in  the  quarter-master's  department  be 
delivered  in  for  settlement  on  the  first  of  June  following,  (twenty-seven  days;) 
and  that  whosoever  should  fail  so  to  do,  should  be  published  and  prosecuted.'7 
A  copy  of  this  resolve  was  transmitted  to  Greene,  and  offensive  as  it  was,  he 
made  every  effort  to  obtain  a  compliance  with  it.  In  a  circular,  which  was 
immediately  forwarded  to  ah1  the  agents  of  the  department  he  observes,  "  For 
this  and  many  other  reasons  it  is  necessary  that  our  accounts  be  brought  to  a 
close.  Many  improper  suspicions  of  abuse  prevail  respecting  the  expenditure 
of  public  money.  I  hope  our  accounts  will  sufficiently  prove  that  the  plan  of 
the  war  and  the  nature  of  the  service  entail  the  expense,  and  that  it  is  not 
owing  to  any  misapplication  of  the  public  money.  However,  persons  are  not 
wanting  who  propagate  such  reports,  and  even  some  who  are  high  in  political 
life,  and  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  silence  improper  suspicions.  As  I  have 
the  highest  confidence  in  the  integrity  and  ability  of  the  agents  acting  under 
me,  I  hope  they  will  one  and  all  be  able  to  prove  themselves  honest  and  faith- 
iul  trustees  for  the  public." 

But  to  collect  not  only  accounts  but  vouchers  from  Georgia  to  Maine,  the 
board  well  knew  was  impossible,  and  the  hostility  of  the  measure  was  too 
glaring  for  them  to  adhere  to  it  in  opposition  to  the  indignant  remonstrances 
of  the  gentlemen  at  the  head  of  the  quarter-master's  department. 

With  an  ill  grace  and  a  strong  compliment  to  their  own  generosity,  they 
graciously  conceded  to  him  another  month ;  for  a  purpose  which  all  the  world 
must  have  known,  if  due  allowances  be  made  for  the  extent  of  the  sphere  of 
action,  the  number  of  expeditions  that  had  been  carried  on,  and  the  limited 
means  of  correspondence  then  existing,  ought  to  have  required  as  many  years. 
"The  early  periodical  settlement  of  accounts  had  never  been  neglected  since. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  165 

Greene  took  charge  of  the  department;  for  a  standing  order  existed  that  CHAP. 
monthly  returns  should  be  made,  and  this  had  been  partially  complied  with ;  v^^^, 
but  defaults  innumerable  had  been  made,  and  such  was  the  difficulty  of  getting 
proper  men  to  act  for  the  trifling  compensation  allowed,  that  the  department 
did  not  dare  to  be  rigid.    Yet,  as  if  not  satisfied  with  the  attacks  already  made 
on  the  feelings  of  Greene,  the  commissioners  consummated  the  persecution  by 
dispersing  die  following  very  delicate  circular : 

"TREASURY  OFFICE,  13th  June  1780. 

a  Ordered,  That  the  several  persons  following,  viz.  Nathanael  Greene, 
quarter-master-general,  &c.  render  their  respective  accounts  of  receipts  and 
expenditures,  with  the  requisite  vouchers  as  aforesaid,  on  or  before  the  first 
day  of  August  next  ensuing;  and  that  whoever  shall  fail  so  to  do,  be  published 
and  prosecuted  agreeably  to  the  order  of  the  board  of  the  3d  May  last,  without 
further  indulgence. 

*  CHARLES  LEE,  Secretary." 

And  in  addition  to  being  thus  pressed  and  threatened,  Greene  was  very 
fairly  given  to  understand  that  he  must  consider  himself  liable  for  any  failure 
or  defalcations  of  all  the  host  of  agents  who  were  necessarily  employed  by  a 
military  officer  obliged  to  act  by  agents  or  deputies,  and  to  act  at  the  same 
time  in  every  part  of  the  union. 

He  now  addressed  a  letter  to  congress,  stating  the  injustice  of  such  a  prin 
ciple,  and  the  ruinous  effects  upon  his  private  fortune,  of  not  having  formally 
declared,  at  an  early  period,  their  understanding  on  this  subject. 

But  to  his  astonishment,  congress  would  not  recede.  In  their  resolves  in 
reply  to  his  letter,  they  assert  their  right,  and  reserve  to  themselves  to  judge 
when  it  shall  be  enforced. 

He  now  no  longer  hesitated  about  the  course  to  be  pursued,  but  intimated  to 
the  commander  in  chief  his  resolution  to  resign.  Washington  was  still  unwil 
ling  to  part  with  him,  and  in  his  answer,  which  bears  date  the  6th  of  August, 
entreats  him  to  wait  a  little  longer.  The  committee  who  had  been  despatched 
to  the  army  to  inspect  the  transactions  of  the  staff  departments,  as  well  as 
General  Washington,  had  written  to  congress  on  the  subject  of  his  claims  and 
complaints,  and  Washington  expresses  a  hope  that  the  result  will  be  favoura 
ble.  The  system  also  drawn  up  by  Washington,  Greene  and  Schuyler,  was 
still  before  cougress,  and  it  was  possible  it  might  be  adopted. 

In  this  the  commander  in  chief  was  disappointed.  It  is  a  fact,  that  at  that 
time  there  existed  a  jealousy  between  the  army  and  congress.  The  former 


O 


166  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   complained  loudly  of  the  injustice  of  congress  towards  them,  of  inattention  to 

^^>^-^,  their  wants,  and  the  hardship  of  receiving  their  pay  in  a  depreciated  medium, 

at  a  rate  fixed  without  a  view  to  depreciation.     And  the  latter  suspected, 

-     or  pretended  to  suspect  in  the  army  a  spirit  of  military  domination,  a  desire 

to  dictate  to  congress,  and  control  them  in  their  measures. 

There  is  strong  reason  to  believe  that  at  this  dine,  the  party  that  had  been 
formed  against  General  Washington  had  rather  gained  ground.  The  ascend 
ancy  of  such  men  as  Samuel  Adams  and  Richard  H.  Lee  could  not  but  be 
felt;  and  Mifilin  and  Wilson,  leading  men  in  Pennsylvania,  were  both  avow 
edly  hostile  to  him.  The  state  of  Pennsylvania  had  adopted  their  prejudices, 
and  had  for  some  time  manifested  a  resolution  to  mingle  in,  if  not  to  control  the 
proceedings  of  congress. 

Philadelphia,  of  course,  lent  its  powerful  aid,  and  those  who  have  mingled 
much  in  public  life,  will  know  the  secret  but  powerful  influence  of  the  opinions 
of  the  society  in  which  the  members  mingle,  upon  the  acts  of  a  deliberative 
assembly.  Indeed,  the  censorious  do  contend  that  hospitable  entertainers, 
fascinating  women,  and  even  assiduous  landlords  and  landladies  are  not  with 
out  their  influence  in  regulating  the  affairs  of  some  nations.  That  the  fair  sex 
have  ever  piqued  themselves  in  rising  above  the  state  of  political  nonentity  to 
which  the  lords  of  the  creation  have  reduced  diem,  is  the  opinion  of  many; 
and  that  they  delight  to  mock  the  fancied  soverignty  of  man,  by  skilfully  touch 
ing  the  master-spring  of  hiy  actions,  is  an  idea  not  altogether  destitute  of  histo 
rical  facts  to  support  it.  Where  is  the  human  heart  that  takes  no  pleasure  in 
contemplating  its  own  ascendancy?  and  where  the  female  heart  that  does  not 
claim  that  ascendancy  over  the  will  of  man  as  its  natural  sphere  of  action? 

That  General  Mifllin's  star  was  in  the  ascendant,  at  this  dme,  was  proved 
by  his  activity  in  congress,  his  being  first  nominated  chairman  of  the  commis 
sioners  to  superintend  the  staff,  and  afterwards  president  of  congress. 

Indeed,  there  had  been  about  this  time  a  report  circulated  and  credited  by 
some,  that  a  proposition  had  been  made  to  General  Washington  to  assume 
dictatorial  powers,  and  as  die  pure  ermine  of  innocence  is  soiled  even  by  the 
breath  of  solicitation,  this  circumstance  for  awhile  affected  his  standing  in 
public  opinion.  That  it  was  at  the  time  treated  seriously,  will  appear  from 
die  following  correspondence. 

Governor  Read,  on  the  2d  September  1780,  writes  to  General  Greene  thus: 
"  The  change  of  sentiment  which  has  taken  place  in  the  army  respecting  civil 
government,  has  for  the  first  time  given  me  apprehension.  I  am  told  thai 
some  officers  of  considerable  rank  have  pressed  the  general  to  assume  dictate* 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  167 

rial  power.     Is  it  so?    Necessity  may  perhaps  plead  for  such  a  measure,  but  CHAP. 
certainly  the  power  ought  to  be  received  from  other  hands,     He,  it  is  said,  ^^^^ 
treated  the  proposition  in  a  suitable  manner.     But  necessity  has  ever  been  the 
tyrant's  plea,  and  I  prize  his  judgment  and  virtue  too  highly  to  believe  he  will 
contaminate  a  glorious  and  honourable  life  by  such  a  mistake ;  for,  however 
congress  may  be  depreciated,  as  well  as  their  money,  they  are  still  the  supreme 
power  of  the  country." 

In  reply  to  this  letter  on  8th  September,  General  Greene  writes,  ."  I  have 
made  inquiry  at  head  quarters  whether  there  was  such  a  proposition  made  to 
the  general,  either  by  an  officer  or  officers  of  any  rank,  to  assume  dictatorial 
powers,  and  am  assured  by  Colonel  Hamilton  that  no  such  thing  ever  took 
place.  And  you  may  depend  upon  it,  that  the  principal  officers  of  the  army 
are  far  from  proposing  any  such  thing  to  the  general.  Nor  can  I  see  what 
he  could  effect  by  dictatorial  powers,  without  the  helping  hand  of  civil  govern 
ment." 

It  happened,  most  unfortunately,  that  the  discussions  which  arose  in  con 
gress  in  deliberating  upon  the  new  system  for  the  quarter-master-general's 
department,  took  a  turn  exactly  calculated  to  foster  this  jealousy  entertained  of 
the  general  and  the  army. 

Under  the  existing  regulations,  impressment  for  transportation  could  only 
'  take  place  under  the  sanction  of  state  authority.  The  difficulty  of  obtaining 
orders  for  this  purpose,  had  sometimes  greatly  embarrassed  the  movements  of 
the  department.  And  the  plan  drawn  up  under  the  eye  of  the  commander  in 
chief,  had  principally  in  view  to  confer  this  power  on  himself,  and  thus  obviate 
one  principal  obstacle  to  military  operation.  This  did  not  suit  the  palate  of 
congress,  and  the  system  was  rejected.  Tho  one  substituted  for  it,  imposed 
the  check  of  civil  authority  upon  military  power.  But  although  to  those  who 
had  experienced  the  embarrassments  of  the  existing  system,  and  who  thought 
that  more  confidence  was  due  to  the  commander  in  chief  than  was  exhibited  ' 
in  this  restriction,  it  was  by  no  means  agreeable ;  yet  Greene's  objections  to 
acting  under  it  were  principally  founded  on  another  ground.  The  new 
system  destroyed  the  office  of  assistant,  and  thus  deprived  him  of  the  two  able 
coadjutors,  without  whom  he  had  always  declared  he  would  not  act  a  mo 
ment.  It  is  true,  Colonel  Petit  was  afterwards  brought  into  the  department 
in  the  capacity  of  assistant  quarter-master-general,  but  it  was  because  con 
gress  plainly  foresaw  that  no  successor  to  Greene  could  dispense  with  Petit's 
experience  and  intelligence ;  and  because,  notwithstanding  prevailing  reports, 


168  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  they  wished  to  soothe  Greene  into  a  further  continuance  into  office.    But  his 
v^v^,  resolution  was  instantly  taken,  and  as  he  was  not  of  a  temper  to  sustain  inju 
ries  without  feeling  them,  smarting  as  he  did  under  what  he  considered  as 
reiterated  acts  of  persecution,  he  sent  in  his  resignation. 

As  the  letter  which  accompanied  it,  was  the  subject  of  much  animadversion 
in  congress,  we  regret  that  it  has  not  been  in  our  power  to  procure  it.  We 
have,  however,  sufficient  evidence  of  his  not  being  sensible  of  having  deserv 
edly  drawn  upon  himself  the  irritation  that  it  produced,  or  willingly  departed 
from  that  deference  and  respect  which  nothing  can  excuse  an  individual,  more 
especially  a  public  officer,  from  exhibiting  to  a  representative  body.  What 
ever  may  be  die  correctness  of  die  delegates  of  the  people,  there  is  a  reverence 
due  to  those  who  consdtute  diem,  which  is  of  absolute  and  indispensable  obli 
gation.  If,  in  this  respect,  General  Greene  deviated  from  die  due  observance 
of  diis  duty,  we  do  not  wish  to  vindicate  him;  but  impartial  truth  will  require 
of  us  to  present  the  reader  with  his  own  vindication,  in  various  letters  ad 
dressed  to  his  friends  on  the  occasion. 

Such  was  the  excitement  produced  in  congress,  that  immediately  on  the 
reading  of  die  general's  letter  a  member  rose  aud  proposed  that  he  be  dismissed 
from  die  service.  He  had  many  excellent  and  warm  friends  on  the  floor,  who 
heard  the  letter  read  with  regret,  and  the  utmost  they  could  do,  at  diat  time, 
was  to  obtain  a  reference  of  it  to  a  committee.  But  that  committee  reported 
a  resolve,  that  "the  resignation  of  Nathanael  Greene  be  accepted,  and  diat  he 
be  informed  that  congress  have  no  further  use  for  his  services."  For  ten  days 
this  report  was  under  consideration ;  six  days  it  was  called  up  and  debated, 
and  the  minds  of  his  friends  anxiously,  most  anxiously  employed  to  obtain  a 
negative  vote  from  congress,  or  a  concession  from  the  offender.  But  Greene 
thought  he  was  right  and  would  not  yield,  and  the  army  (who  had  espoused 
Ins  cause)  looked  gloomy  and  threatening.  Thus,  in  a  moment  of  mutual 
irritation,  was  the  country  on  die  verge  of  losing  the  services  of  one  who  was 
destined,  in  a  few  months,  to  cover  the  American  arms  with  glory;  to  rescue 
three  states  from  the  dominion  of  the  enemy,  and,  under  the  smiles  of  benign 
providence,  to  do  more  dian  any  other,  with  one  exception,  to  the  fortunate 
termination  of  the  war. 

The  latter  part  of  the  report  was  finally  stricken  out,  and  that  only  which 
related  to  his  resignation  as  quarter-master-general  carried.  Colonel  Picker 
ing  was  elected  to  succeed  him,  and  Greene  anxiously  awaited  the  moment 
when  he  should  be  relieved  from  the  heavy  burthen  that  had  now  been  pressing 
on  him  for  near  three  years.  Yet  near  two  months  did  he  patiently  continue 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  die  station,  while  his  successor  was  prudently  inform- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  169 

ing  himself  of  its  details,  and  endeavouring  to  obtain  money  to  enter  upon  it  CHAT. 
with  eclat.  >w#-v^' 

Immediately  as  Colonel  Pickering's  appointment  was  announced  to  him, 
Greene  addressed  letters  to  all  his  agents,  informing  them  of  his  own  resigna 
tion  and  the  appointment  of  his  successor;  thanking  them  for  their  faithful 
services,  pressing  them  to  close  their  accounts,  and  earnestly  requesting  them 
to  lend  every  assistance  to  his  successor  that  could  contribute  to  facilitate  tho 
discharge  of  his  duties. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  irritation  that  had  previously  prevailed,  there  was 
not  an  individual  in  the  administration  who  did  not  confess  that  he  retired 
from  the  office  in  a  manner  highly  dignified  and  patriotic. 

In  his  communications  to  his  subordinate  officers,  Green?  places  his  resigna 
tion  on  his  resolution  not  to  assume  the  extent  of  pecuniary  liability,  to  which 
the  late  resolution  of  congress  had  subjected  him ;  and  the  fear  that  in  the 
middle  of  a  campaign  it  would  be  found  impracticable  to  substitute  the  one 
system  for  the  other.  Indeed,  it  is  very  obvious  that  this  latter  objection  was 
too  forcible  to  be  obviated,  from  the  delays  which  attended  the  assumption  of 
the  office  by  his  successor;  which,  not  much  to  the  credit  of  the  candid  dealing 
of  the  congress,  threw  upon  Greene  the  discharge  of  the  duties  upon  the  old 
plan,  until  near  the  close  of  the  campaign  of  1780. 

In  his  correspondence  with  his  intimate  friends  it  will  be  seen,  that  he  places 
his  conduct  on  other,  but  consistent  grounds;  but  there  was  one  ground  known 
only  to  liimself  and  the  commander  in  chief;  and  with  a  very  commendable 
discretion,  communicated  to  no  one  else.  It  was  this.  Greene  could  not 
have  expected  cordial  support,  either  from  the  treasury  board,  after  their  late 
hostile  proceedings ;  or  from  the  commissioners  for  superintending  the  staff 
with  General  Mifilin  at  their  head ;  or  from  the  congress,  whilst  the  party 
hostile  to  himself  and  Washington  retained  their  influence ;  and  it  became 
necessary  to  throw  upon  that  body  the  appointment  of  some  one,  in  whose 
success,  as  well  as  in  the  success  of  their  new  system,  they  would  feel  their 
own  responsibility  implicated. 

The  choice  made,  on  die  occasion,  was  a  judicious  one.  Colonel  Pickering 
had  some  dine  acted  as  adjutant-general.  His  reputation  stood  high  as  a  man 
of  honour.  The  work  of  combination  and  arrangement  was  done  to  his 
hand,  and  such  were  his  invincible  habits  of  application,  and  his  stern  integ 
rity;  that  indolence  and  peculation,  had  they  existed  in  th?  department,  must 
have  fled  at  his  frown.  If  the  most  rigid  economy  could  have  reduced  the 
expenses  of  the  department,  no  man  was  better  qualified  to  eficct  it.  But  no 
economy  could  obviate  the  effects  of  the  total  dearth  of  money  and  of  credit 

22 


170  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  which  then  prevailed.     And  the  persecutors  of  Greene  must  have  blushed, 

this  truth  burst  upon  them  with  all  its  mortifying  results. 
The  following  sketch  of  the  army  is  from  the  pen  of  Washington,  written 
1st  May  1781 — the  spring  of  the  year  following  the  appointment  of  Colonel 
Pickering,  and  after  he  had  been  acting  about  six  months — sufficient  time  for  a 
fair  experiment. 

"Instead  of  having  our  arsenals  well  supplied  with  military  stores,  they  are 
poorly  provided,  and  the  workmen  all  leaving  them.  Instead  of  having  the 
various  articles  of  field-equipage  in  readiness  to  deliver,  the  quarter-master- 
general  is  but  now  applying  to  the  several  states  (as  a  dernier  resort)  to  provide 
these  things  for  their  troops  respectively.  Instead  of  having  a  regular  system 
of  transportation  established  on  credit,  or  funds  in  the  quarter-master's  hands 
to  defray  the  contingent  expenses  of  it,  we  have  neither  the  one  nor  the  other: 
and  all  that  business,  or  a  greater  part  of  it,  being  done  by  military  impress 
ment,  we  are  daily  and  hourly  oppressing  the  people,  souring  their  tempers 
and  alienating  their  affections." 


o 


From  the  voluminous  correspondence  carried  on  between  General  Greene 
and  his  friends,  from  the  spring  of  the  year  1 780,  when  these  discussions  first 
commenced  to  their  terminating  in  his  resignation,  we  will  select  a  few  pas 
sages  for  the  amusement  of  the  reader. 

In  a  letter  to  his  friend  Governor  Read,  dated  Morristown,  February  9th, 
1780,  we  find  this  passage:  "  I  suppose  you  have  seen  the  late  extraordinary 
appointment  of  General  JMifilin  as  commissioner  to  superintend  the  staff  de 
partment.  This  is  the  more  extrordinary,  as  f  If  the 
institution  be  proper,  some  of  the  characters  to  act  under  it  are  not.  It  has, 
therefore,  the  appearance  of  a  design  to  embarrass  rather  than  facilitate  the 
public  business.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  commander  in  chief  will  feel 
himself  hurt  at  this  step,  and  consider  it  as  a  new  clog  to  embarrass  his  mili 
tary  operations." 

"  MORRISTOWN,  April  25,  1780. 

"  My  situation  is  peculiarly  disagreeable,  and  I  have  a  most  delicate  and 
ci'iticul  part  to  act.  If  I  force  myself  out  of  the  department,  and  any  great 


t  Erased  from  the  original. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  1.71 

misfortune  happens,  no  matter  from  what  cause,  it  will  be  chargeable  to  my  CHAP. 
account.  If  I  stay  in  it  and  things  go  wrong,  or  any  failure  happens,  I  stand  v^J-^, 
responsible.  What  to  do  or  how  to  act,  1  am  at  a  loss.  I  think,  upon  the 
whole,  your  advice  is  prudent  and  on  the  safe  side  of  the  question,  and,  there 
fore,  I  determine  to  embrace  the  first  opportunity  to  get  out  of  the  business.  I 
feel  myself  so  soured  and  hurt  at  the  ungenerous,  as  well  as  illiberal  treatment 
of  congress  and  the  different  boards,  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  do 
business  with  them  with  proper  temper;  and  besides  1  have  lost  all  confidence 
in  the  justice  and  rectitude  of  their  intentions.  The  board  of  treasury  have 
written  me  one  of  the  most  insulting  letters  I  have  ever  received  either  from  a 
public  or  private  hand.  I  shall  write  them  as  tart  an  answer,  and  as  I  expect 
it  will  bring  on  a  quarrel,  I  shall  have  occasion  to  call  upon  you  and  others  to 
certify  the  manner  of  my  engaging  in  the  business,  the  circumstances  it  was 
under,  and  all  other  attendant  matters  that  may  be  necessary  to  give  the  public 
a  proper  idea  of  the  part  I  have  acted,  should  I  be  obliged  to  publish  any  thing 
in  my  own  justification.  Nothing  will  be  more  disagreeable  to  me,  but  neces 
sity  may  drive  me  to  it." 

• 

On  the  29th  he  writes  to  the  same  friend:  "  It  was  my  intention,  at  the 
time  you  left  camp,  to  have  been  in  Philadelphia  before  this;  but  Colonel 
Coxe,  on  his  arrival  there,  wrote  to  me  that  a  new  system  was  certainly  fixed 
upon,  and  new  agents  to  fill  it.  This  was  all  I  wished  for,  as  that  would  give 
me  a  fair  opening  to  retire  without  censure;  and  should  I  go  to  Philadelphia, 
might  be  suspected  of  coming  with  a  view  of  soliciting  a  continuance.  As 
nothing  was  further  from  my  thoughts,  I  was  unwilling  to  give  ground  for  the 
suspicion. 

"  You  are  perfectly  right  in  the  opinion  that  I  have  nothing  to  expect  from 
public  gratitude.  And  I  am  die  more  convinced  of  this  from  what  I  have 
seen  in  camp;  for  if  individuals  can  so  easily  forget  their  former  distress  and 
personal  obligations,  it  is  no  wonder  that  changeable  bodies,  ignorant  of  all 
the  circumstances,  should  be  ungrateful.  I  am  sensible  I  am  placed  in  a  deli 
cate  situation,  and  must  move  with  circumspection.  Honest  intentions  and 
faithful  services  are  but  a  poor  shield  against  the  secret  machinations  of  men 
without  principle,  honour,  or  honesty.  And,  therefore,  I  have  but  little  conso 
lation  from  having  served  the  public  with  fidelity,  or  little  security  from  perse 
cution  in  the  same  consideration.  But  I  will  ever  have  an  approving  con 
science,  if  I  am  not  blessed  with  an  applauding  country.  The  one  depends 
upon  my  own  conduct,  the  other  upon  accident.  The  advice  of  a  friend  in 
an  hour  of  difficulty  is  worth  a  kingdom,  I  am  the  more  obliged  to  you, 


172  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAT,  therefore,  for  your  information  and  sentiments  of  the  course  I  ought  to  pursue, 
from  Colonel  Coxe's  positive  manner  of  writing,  I  thought  I  should  rather 
expose  myself  than  save  the  department,  if  I  went  to  Philadelphia.  However, 
from  letters  I  have  since  received  from  members  of  congress  who  would  hot 
deceive  me,  I  am  inclined  to  think  your  advice  was  salutary.  I  shall  wait  a 
fe\v  days  longer,  and  if  nothing  occurs  that  forbids  my  coming  forward  I  am 
rather  inclined  to  think  I  shall  set  out  for  the  city. 

.  "  I  have  been  expecting  the  commissioners  for  superintending  the  staff,  for  a 
fortnight  past.  This  was  one  objection  to  leaving  camp,  lest  I  should  be  sus 
pected  of  avoiding  an  inquiry.  General  Schuyler  is  expected  in  town  this 
week.  Perhaps  the  other  commissioners  intend  to  meet  him  here.  I  have 
bad  little  conversation  with  the  commander  in  chief  upon  General  Miftlin's 
appointment,  but  sufficient  to  convince  me  he  is  not  pleased  with  the  compli 
ment. 

"  Colonel  Butler  wrote  to  me  a  few  days  since  from  Carlisle,  that  it  was 
currently  reported  there,  that  I  had  refused  to  serve  in  the  quarter-master's 
department  any  longer,  unless  the  congress  would  give  me  3,000  guineas  a 
year.  This  I  suppose  is  the  beginning  of  General  M.'s  superintendence.  And 
I  dare  say  the  whole  of  his  conduct  will  lead  to  embarrass  the  service  and 
******  -j-  The  king's  speech  and  the  debates  in  parliament  have 
arrived,  and  seem  to  confirm  what  you  conjectured,  that  there  would  be  ano 
ther  campaign.  How  are  we  to  carry  it  on  ?  We  are  without  money,  credit, 
or  means  to  obtain  the  one  or  the  other.  Never  was  a  nation  in  such  a  situa 
tion,  and  yet,  I  am  told,  congress  think  all  things  are  going  smoothly  on.  It 
is  astonishing  how  they  can  be  so  indifferent  to  the  approaching  crisis. 

"  We  have  opened  an  assembly  in  camp.  From  this  apparent  ease,  I  sup 
pose,  it  must  be  thought  we  are  in  happy  circumstances.  I  wish  it  was  so ; 
but  alas!  it  is  not.  Our  provisions  arc  in  a  manner  gone.  We  have  not  a 
ton  of  hay  at  command,  nor  magazines  to  draw  from.  The  people  who  have 
the  public  horses  to  winter,  demand  immediate  payment  for  the  time  past,  and 
refuse  to  keep  them  any  longer  without  it.  If  they  persist,  I  see  no  resource 
but  to  sell  the  public  cattle  to  keep  them  from  starving.  The  people  will  not 
trust  as  they  have  done,  while  depreciation  continues  to  rage. 

"  Money  is  extremely  scarce,  and  worth  little  when  we  get  it.  We  have 
been  so  poor  in  camp  for  a  fortnight,  that  we  could  not  forward  the  public 


t  Erased  in  the  original. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  173 

dispatches  for  want  of  cash  to  defray  the  expenses.     Has  this  the  appearance  CHAP. 
of  a  vigorous  campaign?  ^^^/ 

"  The  new  system*  recommended  by  congress,  I  fear,  will  not  be  produc 
tive  of  all  the  good  expected  from  it.  On  the  contrary,  I  fear  it  will  introduce 
much  disorder  and  numerous  complaints." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  letter  from  Governor  Read,  the  receipt 
of  which  is  acknowledged  in  die  preceding. 

"  Your  favour  of  the  9th  instant  is  now  before  me.  I  had  neither  forgot  nor 
neglected  my  promise  made  to  you,  but  was  prevented  by  two  reasons.  First, 
that  I  really  could  not  find  out  what  was  doing  at  the  civil  head  quarters  with 
sufficient  certainty.  And,  secondly,  that  I  expected  you  daily  in  town.  I  am 
almost  afraid  to  commit  to  paper  my  full  and  undisguised  sentiments  on  the 
present  state  of  affairs,  with  which  you  are  specially  connected.  So  many 
accidents  have,  in  the  course  of  the  war,  happened  from  epistolary  freedoms, 
that  I  have  grown  very  fearful  of  trusting  any  thing  in  so  hazardous  a  channel. 
However,  I  will  venture  to  tell  you,  that  I  think  you  have  nothing  10  expect 
from  public  gratitude,  or  personal  attention,  and  that  you  will  do  well  to  pre 
pare  yourself  at  all  points  for  events.  General  Mifflin's  appointment  to  his 
present  office  without  including  the  heads  of  departments,  is  a  sufficient  com 
ment  on  my  text,  and  by  your  Ictt?r  I  find  you  understand  it  as  I  do.  I  have 
had  some  experience  of  that  body  with  whom  your  principal  concerns  lie,  and 
am  clearly  of  opinion  there  is  more  to  be  done  by  resolution  and  firmness  than 
temporizing.  All  public  bodies  seem  to  me  to  act  in  a  manner  which,  if  they 
were  individuals,  they  would  be  kicked  out  of  company  for ;  and  the  higher 
they  are,  the  greater  liberties  they  take.  In  my  opinion,  you  ought  not  to 
delay  an  explanation  on  your  affairs :  if  a  tub  is  wanted  for  tlie  whale,  you  are 
as  likely  to  be  it  as  any  one.  A  torrent  of  abuse  was  poured  out  against 
Wadsworth,  but  that  has  all  died  away,  as  all  unjust  and  ill  grounded  calumny 
ever  will.  I  think  he  was  a  valuable  officer,  and  wish  they  may  not  feel  Irs 
loss.  Your  particular  situation  will  enable  you  to  leave  the  department  not 
only  without  discredit,  but  your  station  in  the  line  will  preserve  a  certain 
respect  which,  in  other  circumstances  might  be  wanting.  "Whoever  is  quar 
ter-master-general  this  year,  must  work,  if  not  miracles,  at  least  something 
very  near  it;  for  I  verily  believe  there  will  not  be  sliillings  where  pounds  arc 


*  Of  specified  supplies  in  kind  from  the  states. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  wanted.     In  all  my  acquaintance  with  public  affairs  I  never  saw  so  complete 
v-s^,  a  mystery—a  vigorous  campaign  to  be  undertaken,  35,000  men  to  be  raised, 
fed,  &c.  and  not  a  step  taken  that  I  can  learn,  to  raise  our  drooping  credit, 
gratify  the  people,  or  conciliate  a  common  confidence.     A  new  arrangement 
of  the  army  and  reduction  of  officers  is  now  talked  of  with  as  much  composure 
as  if  it  were  a  common  business — little  do  they  know  the  delicacy  and  diffi 
culty  of  such  a  work.     Nothing  can  rouse  us  from  this  lethargy,  but  some 
signal  stroke  from  the  enemy,  and  I  shall  not,  be  sorry  to  see  them  set  about  it, 
as  I  am  persuaded,  we  are  sliding  into  ruin  much  faster  than  ever  we  rose 
from  its  borders.    Whatever  you  do  or  resolve,  must  be  done  soon,  or  you  will 
be  plunged  into  another  campaign,  without  a  possibility  of  retreat,  and  though 
the  circumstance  I  have  above  alluded  to  is  a  favourable  one,  it  is  impossible  to 
envy  your  situation;  for  whether  you  move  on,  or  stand  still,  it  may  be  im 
proved  to  your  disadvantage.     If  you  quit,  they  will  say,  that  having  made  a 
fortune  you  leave  the  department  in  distress  when  you  could  have  been  of 
most  service  to  your  country.     If  you  stand  fast,  you  become  responsible  for 
measures  and  events  morally  impracticable.     If  an  honourable  retreat  can  be 
effected,  it  is  beyond  doubt  your  wisest  and  safest  course ;  but  I  am  not  certain 
that  this  can  be  done  even  now,  and  every  hour  adds  to  the  difficulty.     Your 
department,  as  I  have  ever  told  Mr.  Petit,  must  bear  some  censure  for  the 
appointments  in  this  state,  and  they  are  now  used,  as  I  expected  they  some 
day  would  be,  to  its  prejudice.     When  such  men  as     ******    and 
******  j  ^c<  makc  sucn  display  of  fortune,  it  is  impossible  to  help 
looking  back,  and  equally  impossible  for  a  people,  soured  by  taxes  and  the 
continuance  of  the  war,  to  help  fretting,  and  the  general  ill  temper  gives  lati 
tude  to  thought  and  speech.     When  things  go  wrong,  no  matter  where  the 
wrong  bias  is  given,  every  one  concerned  finds  a  pleasure  in  shifting  the  blame 
on  his  neighbour,  or  at  least  making  him  share  it.     It  would  never  surprize 
me,  therefore,  to  see  the  quarter-master  or  commissary  general  made  the  poli 
tical  scape-goat,  and  carry  off  the  sins,  if  not  of  the  people,  of  those  who  repre 
sent  them.     Upon  the  whole,  I  retain  my  opinion  of  the  propriety  of  your 
being  hero  as  soon  as  possible,  and  in  the  mean  time  can  only  inform  you  of 
two  things  with  certainty.     1st.  The  plan  of  the  department  will  be  altered 
with  regard  to  commissions.     2d.  That  nothing  but  necessity  will  induce  them 
to  continue  the  present  department,  for  although  it  may  have  a  great  deal  of 
die  utile,  it  has  little  of  the  duke  on  the  palate  of  the  present  congress.     But 


t  Erased  from  the  original. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  n 

you  will  be  drilled  on  till  the  campaign  opens,  and  if  they  can  do  no  better  eiup, 
they  will  keep  you.     In  this,  as  well  as  every  thing  else,  much  will  be  left  to  ^^^ 
the  chapter  of  accidents.     But  it  is  time  to  relieve  you  from  this  tedious  letter, 
in  which  my  pen  has  run  away  with  me.     I  intended  to  have  been  very  pru 
dent  and  reserved,  but  I  find  I  have,  as  we  poor  mortals  are  apt  to  do,  made 
good  resolutions  and  broken  them  every  one." 

It  was  the  1st  of  August  1780  that  Greene  sent  in  his  resignation  as  quartcr- 
ter-master-general.  We  again  express  our  regret  that  wre  have  not  been  able 
to  procure  a  copy  of  it  that  our  readers  might  themselves  judge  if  it  merited 
the  reception  it  met  with.  Some  little  idea  of  the  grounds  of  offence  that  it 
furnished  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  extracts. 

On  the  7th  of  August  Colonel  Coxe  writes:  "  I  am  informed  that  the  word 
administration  in  your  letter  of  resignation,  was  so  highly  offensive  to  congress 
that  some  of  the  worthy  members  immediately  on  the  letter's  being  read, 
moved  the  house  instantly  to  disrobe  you  of  all  military  rank,  at  the  same  time 
that  they  accepted  of  your  resignation  as  quarter-master-general.  Others 
more  moderate,  (though  not  at  bottom  more  friendly,)  objected  to  a  measure  so 
violent,  but  at  the  same  time  proposed  that  congress  should  immediately  desire 
the  commander  in  chief  to  signify  to  you  that  your  future  services  in  the  line 
would  be  dispensed  with  until  your  accounts  in  the  quarter-master's  depart 
ment  were  settled.  Neither  of  which  propositions,  though  warmly  urged  by 
your  enemies,  was  earned  into  resolves.  Nor  do  I  believe  they  dare,  great  as 
they  are,  seriously  to  attempt  any  thing  of  the  kind,  though  some  of  your 
friends  have  been  not  a  little  alarmed  on  the  occasion."  He  further  writes, 

"  is  in  strict  alliance  with  a  quondam  major  general,  wrho  has  been 

long  since  suspected  of  being  hostile  to  the  commander  in  chief;  and  who,  it 
is  well  known,  had  a  principal  hand  in  forming  the  present  system.  A  system, 
in  my  opinion,  as  well  calculated  to  effect  a  dissolution  of  the  army,  and  of 
course  the  ruin  of  its  commander,  as  could  possibly  be  devised  by  the  art  of 
man." 

Mr.  Petit  on  the  llth  of  August,  writes  more  moderately:  "  I  have  already 
"intimated  to  you  that  I  did  not  entirely  agree  with  you  in  opinion  respecting 
the  new  plan,  nor  respecting  your  letter  to  congress;  but  I  could  make  large 
allowances  for  these  differences  from  the  various  circumstances  which  placed  ^ 
the  matter  in  different  points  of  light  to  one  and  to  the  other  of  us.  The 
general  causes  of  complaint  arising  from  a  series  of  disagreeable  treatment, 


^. 
*'.. 

'  " 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE, 

CHAP,  wore,  in  a  measure,  common  to  both  of  us;  but  we  had  not  conceived  exactly 
~v^  anke  as  to  tne  secret  spring  and  motives  of  these  transactions.  You  had  sup 
posed  them  to  arise  from  a  seated  malevolence  of  disposition  against  you  in 
many  members  of  a  certain  house,  who  lost  no  opportunity  of  plaving  them 
off  to  your  disadvantage,  until  at  length  they  had  tinctured  the  whole  body, 
except  a  few  of  your  particular  friends,  with  strong  prejudices  against  you; 
and  that  their  measures  had  been  designedly  affronting  to  you.  You  seemed 
also  to  suppose  a  prevailing  disposition  in  the  house  to  cramp  and  con 
fine  the  supplies  and  provisions  for  the  army  lest  they  should  become  formi 
dable,  and  seern  to  be  more  independent  than  certain  persons  wished  to  see 
them.  And  I  apprehend  your  opinions  were  not  a  little  strengthened  and 
confirmed  by  the  conduct  of  certain  persons,  with  whom  you  have  had  many 
conferences  for  some  months  past,  and  who  might  be  supposed  to  be  capable 
of  judging  of  the  secret  motives  of  action  in  their  colleagues.  From  these 
opinions  thus  formed,  it  was  by  no  means  strange  that  you  were  induced  to 
take  the  step  you  did.  My  opinions  on  the  same  points  were  somewhat  differ 
ent;  and  I  believe  I  have  pretty  fully  described  them  in  some  of  my  late  let 
ters.  Hence  you  will  in  turn  make  allowances  for  me  that  I  did  not  so  fully 
approve  your  measures  as  might  have  been  expected.  But  at  the  same  time 
I  must,  in  justice  to  you  say,  that  I  did  not  conceive  your  manner  of  doing  it 
ought  to  have  been  considered  as  so  offensive  as  they  have  taken  it.  The 
torrent  has  been  too  great,  as  well  out  doors  as  within,  for  your  friends  to 
appease  it  with  any  success.  I  have  used  emollients  wherever  I  could  find  an 
opportunity  to  apply  them,  but  in  many  instances  I  found  the  patients  in  a 
disposition  to  be  rather  inllanicd  than  softened  by  them.  At  length,  however, 
I  found  the  fever  abating,  and  they  were  applied  with  more  success,  till  the 
letter  arrived  from  the  committee,  which  raised  the  rage  still  higher  than  ever, 
and  seemed  to  leave  no  room  for  conciliation.  I  have  not  seen  that  letter, 
and  can,  therefore,  only  judge  of  it  by  its  effects,  and  from  select  expressions 
that  have  been  retailed  to  me,  and  in  which  you  are  charged  with  dictating 
terms  and  conditions  which  they  deem  highly  offensive.  The  violence  is 
again  abating,  but  it  will  settle  into  a  solid  dislike  in  the  minds  of  most  of  the 
present  members  of  congress.  Wiiat  was  said  by  some  heated  members 
respecting  the  major  general  did  not,  I  believe,  gain  much  ground,  and  is  laid 
aside.  Your  character  as  a  military  officer  is  too  well  established  to  be  easily 
assailed.  The  component  parts  of  congress  are  continually  changing,  and  it 
may  not  be  long  before  you  may  regain  a  respectable  standing  with  the  main 
body,  though  there  never  will  be  wanting  some,  who  will  open  the  old  wound 
and  try  to  keep  it  from  entirely  healing.  The  opinions  without  doors  have 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  177 

not,  at  present,  a  fair  chance.     They  are  governed,  as  you  may  suppose,  by  CHAP. 
representations  from  the  hot-bed,  and  not  one  in  a  thousand  have  either  oppor-  ^~v-^/ 
tunity  or  inclination  to  inquire  into  the  real  situation  of  things,  or  to  view  both 
sides  of  the  question  fairly.     The  reason  of  quitting  stumbles  many  who  would 
otherwise  willingly  give  it  a  favourable  turn. 

"  I  have  written  to  you  on  this  subject  with  a  freedom  which  nothing  but 
friendship  would  warrant,  and  yet  short  of  what  I  would  use  in  the  open  air, 
where  there  would  be  no  other  record  than  your  own  mind.  I  fear  the  coali 
have  been  blown  up  on  both  sides  by  the  same  instruments,  but  I  cannot  now 
explain  myself  on  this  point.  Your  sagacity  will  lead  you  to  a  meaning. 

"  Divers  overtures  were  made  to  me  for  advice,  and  at  length  to  accept  the 
head  office  myself.  This  I  discouraged  in  its  first  dawnings,  I  had  always 
insisted  on  the  propriety  of  the  choice  falling  on  a  general  officer.  An  over 
ture  was  again  made  to  me  on  a  supposition  of  suitable  rank  annexed.  This 
I  rejected  with  equal  promptness.  My  reasons  for  which  you  will  easily  con 
ceive,  knowing  the  disposition  of  the  army  on  such  an  acquisition  of  rank." 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  Governor  Read  would  remain  an  unconcerned 
spectator  of  the  agitation  excited  in  congress  by  the  affair  of  Greene's  letter. 
His  affections  were  too  much  interested,  and  his  knowledge  of  Greene's  merit 
in  that  department  too  full  and  minute  to  admit  of  his  looking  to  the  result 
without  die  most  anxious  solicitude. 

In  a  letter  of  the  19th  August  he  writes:  "This  is  the  fourth  time  I  have 

i^j 

gat  down  to  write  to  you,  but  the  multiplicity  of  business  and  the  nature  of  the 
subjects  on  which  I  write  have  constantly  prevented  it;  for  before  I  could 
'finish  one  letter  some  new  event  respecting  you  and  your  department  occurred, 
so  as  to  change  the  whole  complexion  of  the  affair.  There  have  been  some 
unhappy  misunderstandings  and  misapprehensions  of  each  others  views  and 
intentions  between  you  and  congress,  which  artful  spirits  have  inflamed.  I 
have  felt  great  concern  on  the  occasion,  as  our  public  alTuirs  never  required 
better  councils  or  more  valuable  men  to  conduct  them.  Mr.  Petit  has  commu 
nicated  to  me  most  of  your  letters,  as  he  has  those  to  you,  and  in  general  we 
have  agreed  upon  the  line  to  be  pursued.  You  have  undoubtedly  great  reason 
to  complain  of  the  public  gratitude,  so  have  the  best  men  in  all  ages.  But  it 
is  not  of  the  present  men  who  compose  congress,  or  at  least  a  majority  of  them, 
of  whom  you  have  most  reason  to  complain.  You  perhaps  will  be  surprized 
when  I  assure  you  that,  in  my  opinion,  you  never  had  fewer  enemies  in  con 
gress  than  at  present.  A  keen  and  a  just  sense  of  its  treatment  has  drawn 

23 


178  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

• 

CHAP,  from  you  expressions  which  would  have  been  properly  applied  to  some  mem- 
now  gone,  and  perhaps  to  a  few  that  remain;  but  not  being  applicable 
to  many,  they  have  kindled  that  resentment  which  we  are  all  subject  to  under 
reproach,  the  grounds  of  which  we  are  ignorant  of,  and  the  desert  of  which  we 
are  not  conscious  of.  I  observe  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Coxe  this  morning  you  men 
tion,  the  design  of  superceding  you  in  command  is  not  laid  aside.  I  assure 
you  it  never  was  seriously  entertained  by  a  great  majority  of  congress.  One 
hot  member  dropped  it  in  a  speech,  another  afterwards  moved'  it  with  some 
more  formality;  but  it  was  soon  scouted,  and  respect  paid  to  your  military 
character,  at  the  same  time  that  your  freedom  as  quarter-master-general  gave 
umbrage. 

"  I  hope  to  see  you  shortly.  I  know  no  hardships,  dangers,  or  distress  I  am 
not  willing  to  share  with  you." 

\ 

The  following  extract  is  the  answer  to  the  foregoing  letter. 

"August  29th,  IWO. 

11  Your  obliging  letter  of  the  19th  I  have  had  the  pleasure  to  receive.  I 
should  have  been  happy  in  having  your  advice  and  opinion  before  I  £3nt  in  my 
resignation.  But  I  thought  then,  and  cannot  help  thinking  now,  that  the  mea 
sures  pursued  in  congress  were  calculated  to  compel  me  to  quit  the  department. 
This  might  not  have  been  the  design  of  the  greater  part,  but  I  am  persuaded 
it  was  the  plan  of  a  few,  who  influenced  others  to  adopt  their  measures  upon 
different  principles  from  those  which  governed  themselves. 

"  You  know  I  had  got  sick  of  the  department  long  since,  and  was  desirous 
of  resi^nino-.  But  I  should  not  have  ventured  upon  the  measure  this  cam- 

o        o 

paign,  if  I  could  possibly  have  got  through  the  business  upon  the  new  system. 
It  appeared  to  me  that  congress  intended  to  tic  up  my  hands  in  such  a  way, 
that  I  should  cither  fail  in  the  undertaking,  or  depart  from  the  plan.  In  cither 
case,  I  should  have  been  ruined.  If  I  had  not  answered  the  demands  of  the 
service,  I  should  have  fallen  into  disgrace  with  the  army;  and  if,  to  answer  the 
demands  of  the  sen-ice,  I  had  departed  from  the  system,  I  made  myself  liable 
for  the  consequences.  Which,  to  be  judged  of  hereafter  by  persons  altogether 
strangers  to  the  circumstances  under  which  I  acted,  could  not  help  drawing 
upon  me  censure,  if  it  did  not  subject  me  to  heavy  losses.  Upon  the  whole,  I 
consider  myself  as  cruelly  and  oppressively  treated.  I  did  not  wish  to  desert 
the  office  at  a  critical  hour,  nor  did  I  wish  to  get  into  a  quarrel  with  congress. 
My  letter  of  resignation  may  have  more  tartness  in  it  than  was  prudent,  but  I 
am  far  from  thinking  it  merited  die  severity  with  which  they  were  about  to 


-MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  179 

treat  it.     For  I  am  well  informed  it  was  seven  days  in  agitation  to  dismiss  me  CHIP. 
the  service  altogether.      This  they  may  do  when  they  please.     1  am 
anxious  to  continue  a  moment  longer  than  I  am  thought  useful  to  the  com 
munity. 

"  If  I  have  many  friends  in  congress  at  this  time,  my  enemies  have  the  art 
of  moulding  them  to  their  views.  Leaving  out  Mr.  Coxe  and  Mr.  Petif, 
served  to  convince  me  that  the  measure  was  more  personal  than  political. 

"  What  served  to  fix  my  determination  for  quitting  the  department  was,  just 
about  the  time  I  received  the  new  system,  I  received  a  resolution  of  congress 
that  the  principal  of  the  department  which  handled  public  money,  however 
diffuse  his  services,  should  be  held  responsible  for  all  the  subordinate  agents. 
This  appeared  to  me  so  unreasonable,  as  well  as  unjust,  the  whole  complexion 
of  the  business  had  something  so  cruel  and  at  the  same  time  so  personal  in  it, 
that  I  was  determined  to  leave  it,  be  the  consequences  what  they  might. 

"  As  to  public  gratitude,  I  expected  none,  especially  in  so  changeable  a  body 
as  that  of  congress;  for  the  members  this  year  cannot  know  the  merits  of  their 
sen-ants  the  last,  and  are,  therefore,  not  very  likely  to  reward  them  for  past 
services.  All  things  considered,  I  am  very  glad  I  am  out  of  the  department, 
though  I  have  run  some  risk  in  getting  out,  and  perhaps  lost  some  friends 
by  it."  .* 

*  , 

Yet  Greene  duly  estimated  the  importance  of  the  good  opinion  of  those  with 
whom  we  are  connected  in  society,  to-  the  enjoyment  of  life,  as  well  as  to  our 
utility  in  a  public  station,  and  took  some  pains  upon  his  resignation  to  collect 
and  diffuse  correct  information  on  the  subject  of  his  conduct  in  that  affair. 

The  letter  from  General  Washington  on  that  occasion  has  alreadv  been 

j 

presented  to  the  reader.     And  the  following  is  the  letter  to  which  that  is  an 
answer. 

"  CAMP  VERFLANK'S  POINT,  August  5/A,  1780. 
"  SIR, 

"  The  time  for  which  I  engaged  to  act  in  the  quarter-master's  department 
at  the  request  of  the  committee,  is  almost  expired ;  and  as  I  cannot  exercise  the 
office  any  longer  consistently  with  my  own  safety,  I  have  to  request  that  your 
excellency  will  take  measures  for  relieving  me  as  soon  as  possible  from  the 
disagreeable  predicament  in  which  I  am  placed.  In  the  mean  time,  I  shall  be 
exceedingly  obliged  to  your  excellency  for  the  sense  you  entertain  of  my  con 
duct  and  services  since  I  have  been  in  the  department,  as  you  alone  are  the 
best  judge  of  the  merit  of  one,  or  propriety  of  the  other.  Tiie  business  is 


180  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  truly  disagreeable  and  distressing,  and  has  been  so  for  a  long  time.  Notwith- 
^^^j  standing,  if  it  had  been  possible  for  me  to  have  gotten  through  this  campaign, 
consistently  with  my  own  safety  and  the  public  good,  upon  the  plan  proposed 
by  congress,  I  would  readily  have  done  it.  But,  from  the  knowledge  I  have 
of  the  department,  I  know  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  follow  the  system  and 
answer  the  demands  of  the  service,  and  to  attempt  it  at  this  critical  season, 
will  most  assuredly  defeat  our  plan  of  operations,  and  bring  the  army  into  the 
greatest  distress. 

"  It  would  be  a  folly  in  me  to  attempt  to  combat  the  prejudices  of  public 
bodies  with  hopes  of  success.  Time  alone  can  convince  them  that  their  mea 
sures  are  destructive  of  their  true  interests,  as  well  as  highly  injurious  to  some 
of  their  most  faithful  servants. 

"  I  am  sensible  my  conduct  has  been  viewed  by  many  in  a  very  improper 
light  And  I  am  persuaded  many  think  the  business  can  be  done  with  more 
method  and  at  less  expense  than  it  has  been.  I  wish  it  may  be  the  case ;  but 
am  much  mistaken  if  the  nature  of  the  business  is  capable  of  more  system,  or 
will  admit  of  less  expense,  if  the  plan  of  the  wTar  continues  on  its  present  scale, 
and  the  army  on  its  present  footing. 

"  I  have  endeavoured  to  the  utmost  of  my  power  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of 
your  excellency's  measures,  and  if  my  conduct  has  not  been  satisfactory  to 
government  and  to  yourself,  it  has  been  owing  to  a  want  of  abilities,  and  not  of 
inclination." 

To  Governor  Greene  of  Rhode  Island,  in  which  state  he  always  manifested 
the  strongest  desire  to  sustain  his  reputation,  he  writes  thus: 

"  The  late  change  in  the  quarter-master-general's  department  has  no  doubt 
been  a  matter  of  some  speculation  with  you.  The  true  reasons  and  causes  that 
led  to  this  measure  arc  not  knoicn,  and  probably  never  will  be;  but  those  which 
have  been  held  up  to  public  view  were  to  introduce  economy  and  order  into 
the  department. 

"  At  the  close  of  last  campaign,  I  represented  to  congress  die  necessity  of 
making  some  alteration  in  the  quarter-master-generaPs  department;  as  the 
pay  allowed  the  officers  serving  upon  salary  was  so  incompetent  to  their  trou 
ble  and  expense  that  it  would  be  impossible  cither  to  get  or  continue  in  office 
suitable  men  to  conduct  the  business.  And  this  I  pressed  upon  them  in  several 
letters  during  the  winter,  arguing  strongly  the  necessity  of  having  it  done 
before  the  campaign  must  open.  They  took  no  notice  of  these  letters  until 
April,  and  then  only  requested  that  I  would  continue  to  make  the  best  prepa- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  181 

ration  I  could.     In  the  same  letters  in  which  I  represented  the  necessity  of  CHAP. 
making  these  alterations  in  the  department,  I  requested  leave  to  quit  it. 
they  absolutely  refused  me. 

"  The  commander  in  chief  sent  me  to  Philadelphia,  the  last  of  April  or  die 
first  of  May,  to  represent  in  person  the  difficulties  attending  the  business.  On 
my  arrival  there,  I  was  presented  widi  a  new  plan  formed  by  General  Mifflin, 
Colonel  Pickering  and  others,  for  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  department, 
which,  1  told  them,  could  never  be  reduced  to  practice,  however  pleasing  it 
may  be  in  theory.  Speculative  projectors  in  matter  of  business,  are  like  meta 
physical  reasoners  in  affairs  of  religion.  Experience  is  the  great  school  of 
human  life,  and  the  only  sure  guide.  They  who  take  up  other  principles  as  a 
rule  of  conduct,  generally  plunge  themselves  into  new  and  endless  difficulties. 

"  My  remarks  upon  the  plan  proposed,  induced  congress  to  listen  to  a  propo 
sition  to  send  a  committee  of  their  own  body  to  camp,  to  consult  with  the 
commander  in  chief  and  the  heads  of  the  great  departments  of  the  army,  and 
to  concert  with  them  a  plan  which  might  be  reduced  to  practice.  The  com 
mittee  was  appointed,  a  plan  formed  and  approved  by  the  commander  in  chief, 
and  recommended  to  congress  to  be  carried  into  execution.  This  they  muti 
lated  and  altered  in  so  many  essential  points,  that  when  it  came  out  I  found 
it  impossible  for  me  to  introduce  it,  with  the  least  hopes  of  answering  the 
demands  of  the  service.  Besides,  to  attempt  to  carry  it  fully  into  execution  in 
the  most  critical  part  of  the  campaign,  I  thought  would  be  sporting  with  expe 
riments  at  too  hazardous  a  rate;  and  as  the  order  was  positive  to  cany  it  into 
immediate  execution,  without  any  latitude  of  discretion  to  be  accommodated 
to  circumstances,  I  was  reduced  to  the  disagreeable  alternative  of  sending  in 
my  resignation,  with  a  positive  refusal  to  act  under  die  new  arrangement. 

"  I  had  been  long  sensible  there  had  been  many  political  and  vulgar  preju 
dices  respecting  the  commission  that  had  been  allowed  in  the  department,  and 
had  taken  care  long  before  this  to  make  an  offer  to  congress  that  I  would  stVvO' 
during  the  campaign  without  fee  or  reward,  paying  only  my  family  expenses 
in  camp,  which  the  business  necessarily  subjected  me  to.  I  also  told  the 
committee  that  there  should  be  no  commission  allowed  to  any  of  the  deputies. 
I  made  these  offers  to  remove  every  shadow  of  suspicion  that  might  induce  a 
belief  that  1  was  actuated  by  interested  motives  in  the  advice  and  opinion  I 
might  give.  But  all  this  had  no  influence.  I  always  considered  the  preju 
dices  that  prevailed,  respecting  the  commission  having  an  ill  effect  as  to  the 
public  expense,  an  idle  thing.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  I  did  not  introduce  it. 
.General  Mifllin  and  the  board  of  war  were  both  before  me  in  the  business,  and 


182  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  gave  a  much  higher  commission  than  I  would  agree  to,  after  I  had  charge  of 
department. 

"  Doubtless  you  have  heard  many  things  respecting  my  letter  of  resignation ; 
that  you  may  judge  for  yourself  I  have  sent  you  a  copy  of  it,  and  a  copy  of  the 
commander  in  chief's  letter  upon  my  being  about  to  leave  the  department. 

"  Many  people,  to  answer  party  purposes,  have  insinuated  that  I  had  made 
a  fortune.  If  I  had,  it  is  nothing  more  than  was  promised  me  by  the  commit- 
mittee  of  congress,  at  the  time  I  accepted  the  office;  but  I  can  assure  you  it  is 
no  such  thing.  I  am  poor,  and  find  it  difficult  to  support  myself  agreeably  to  the 
rank  and  standing  I  hold  in,  the  army;  for  you  will  give  me  leave  to  assure  you, 
that  no  man  can  preserve  himself  from  contempt  unless  he  keeps  up  those 
appearances  n  !iich  are  expected  in  the  rank  he  holds.  There  are  few  or  none 
who  have  been  hardy  enough  to  impeach  my  integrity,  and  of  this  I  will  leave 
you  to  judge  from  your  former  acquaintance  with  me  in  private  life — the  best 
rule,  in  my  opinion,  to  judge  of  actions  and  principles.  He  that  is  not  virtuous 
in  his  private  walks,  never  will  be  so  in  his  public. 

"  To  prevent  the  confusion  which  I  foretold  from  great  and  sudden  changes 
in  the  department,  at  this  interesting  and  critical  season,  I  have  continued  to 
conduct  the  business  a  month  since  my  appointment  ceased,  otherwise  we 
should  have  been  all  in  confusion,  and  perhaps  disbanded  before  this.  Had 
the  second  division  of  the  French  fleet  arrived,  and  called  upon  the  general  to 
co-operate  with  them  against  Ne\v  York,  congress  would  have  had  reason  to 
repent  of  the  measures  they  have  taken.  They  must  have  delayed,  if  not 
defeated  the  whole  plan  of  operations  for  which  the  northern  states  have  been 
put  to  such  amazing  expense. 

"  I  wish  that  America  could  see  her  true  interest,  and  raise  an  army  for  the  war. 
These  short  enlistments  are  ruinous  in  every  point  ofvieic.  We  are  always  dream 
ing  of  peace,  and  for  ever  adopting  temporary  expedients.  The  country  is  op 
pressed  and  discouraged,  and  the  army  distressed  and  disgusted." 

Thus  have  we  waded  through  this  perplexing  period  of  our  hero's  life,  and 
profess  to  have  established  that  he  never  sought  the  office  of  quarter-master- 
general;  that  as  he  entered  upon  it,  so  he  continued  in  it,  solely  from  patriotic 
motives;  that  holding  it  was  altogether  an  instance  of  self-denial,  a  sacrifice  to 
the  good  of  the  service,  and  the  wishes  and  interests  of  the  commander  in 
chief;  that  instead  of  acquiring  wealth  in  the  exercise  of  it,  as  calumny  had 
established  in  the  opinion  of  thousands,  it  reduced  him  even  to  poverty;  that 
he  suffered  the  most  cruel  and  unjust  persecution  in  the  discharge  of  it;  that 
the  persecution  originated  with  the  party  who  considered  every  friend  ol" 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  183 

*• 

Washington  as  the  enemy  of  themselves;  and  that,  finally,  under  the  influence  CHAP. 
of  some  of  the  party,  he  was  forced  to  abandon  it.  \^^^/ 

If  it  be  asked,  what  could  have  been  the  motives  for  this  persecution  ?  the 
answer  is  obvious. 

His  fidelity  to  the  commander  in  chief,  they  wrell  knew,  could  never  be 
shaken.  The  aid  to  be  derived  from  him  was  cordial,  candid,  and  zealous. 
And  if  it  be  admitted  that  the  misfortunes  of  the  campaign  of  1777  were,  in  a 
great  measure,  attributable  to  the  wretched  administration  of  the  quarter 
master-general's  department,  (and  the  committee  of  congress  so  reported  it,) 
never  was  the  man  to  be  forgiven  who  had  snatched  the  destined  victim  of  the 
party  from  impending  ruin.  But  there  was,  in  the  minds  of  many,  another 
cause.  The  duties  of  the  quarter-master-general  detained  Greene  near  the 
person  of  the  commander  in  chief;  his  presence  at  head  quarters  was  gene 
rally  indispensable,  and  here  the  manifest  deference  of  Washington  for  his 
integrity  and  judgment,  was  a  continual  cause  of  spleen  and  envy.  To  dis 
credit  the  favourite  also,  was  to  wound  the  friend  who  confided  in  him ;  and  to 
bring  his  conduct  into  suspicion,  was  to  discredit  the  judgment  of  the  man 
who  had  selected  him. 

One  circumstance  contributed  greatly  to  exacerbate  the  enmity  of  those  who 
were  looking  to  the  place  of  chief  in  command.  It  was  generally  understood 
about  that  time,  that  Washington  had  intimated  that  in  case  of  his  fall,  Greene 
was  the  man  who  ought  to  fill  his  place.  It  is  very  possible  that  there  may  , 
have  been  some  ground  for  the  report,  for  Washington  had  looked  into  his 
heart,  and  knew  that  it  was  not  every  man  whose  integrity  could  withstand 
the  temptations  which  that  post  held  out  to  the  ambitious.  Others  might 
equal,  perhaps  excel  him  in  military  talents,  as  many  certainly  did  in  literary 
acquirements;  but  of  that  unassailable  political  honesty  which  could  be  influ 
enced  by  no  occurrences  to  turn  his  sword  against  his  country,  and  erect  a 
throne  on  the  ruins  of  a  republic,  the  conformity  of  their  sentiments,  habits, 
and  principles  of  action  afforded  the  best  guarantee.  The  sequel  will  show 
that  he  was  destined  to  undergo  this  very  trial. 

We  know  not,  however,  that  there  exists  any  positive  proof  that  such  a  com 
munication  from  the  commander  in  chief  in  favour  of  Greene  was  ever  made. 
We  are  in  possession  of  a  letter  written  from  Yorktown,  when  congress  sat  at 
that  place,  mentioning  that  it  was  so  reported  and  believed  there.  This  letter 
was  probably  not  without  authority. 

In  looking  into  the  transactions  of  Greene  in  a  station  which  involved  him 
in  so  much  calumny  and  suspicion,  the  bureaus  of  all  his  most  intimate  friends 
have  been  open  to  us,  and  we  solemnly  aver,  that  they  do  not  afford  one  letter 


184  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  from  which  even  a  surmise  might  be  drawn  unfavourable  to  his  disintcrcstcil- 
s<x^Xr/ncss  and  integrity. 

Yet  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  he  was  guilty  of  some  errors,  which,  pro 
bably,  were  not  without  their  influence  in  involving  him  in  suspicion. 

As  the  first  of  these  we  will  notice  his  appointing  his  brother  Jacob,  and 
his  particular  friend  Griffin  Greene,  as  deputies  to  act  under  him.  Nepotism, 
as  it  is  called,  always  has  been,  and  always  will  be  viewed  by  the  public  with 
considerable  jealousy.  It  has  the  appearance  of  family  monopoly  of  public 
office,  and  offends  the  selfishness  of  mankind — who  always  assert  a  right  to 
participate,  and  are  seldom  inclined  to  give  credit  for  impartiality  where  the 
judgment  is  liable  to  be  warped  by  the  ties  of  blood.  Yet  why  should  the  just 
claims  of  a  relative  be  sunk  in  the  advancement  of  his  kinsman  to  the  office 
from  which  appointments  flow?  And  why  should  a  public  officer  be  restricted 
from  calling  to  his  aid,  talents  excited  to  action  by  zeal  and  affection  ? 

It  is  difficult  to  draw  the  line  with  precision,  but  in  general  it  may  be  laid 
down  as  a  rule  of  conduct,  that  wherever  the  support  of  public  opinion  is 
necessary  to  a  public  officer,  it  is  dangerous  to  advance  his  relatives  to  posts 
under  him,  more  especially  if  the  office  admits  of  the  suspicion  of  connivance 
and  mutual  concealment  of  each  other's  offences.  Greene  had  occasion  very 
soon  to  feel  the  dangerous  consequences  of  such  appointments;  not  only  in 
the  slanders  which  prevailed  against  him,  but  in  seeing  his  example  followed 
by  an  agent  who  did  not  use  it  with  all  the  precautions  of  his  employer.  In 
a  letter  which  he  was  obliged  to  address  to  him  upon  the  reiterated  complaints 
that  were  made,  he  is  reduced  to  the  mortifying  acknowledgment  that  it  \vas 
true,  he  had  in  two  instances  done  the  same,  but  he  was  resolved  immediately 
to  remove  the  relations  whom  he  had  so  appointed. 

Yet  they  were  men  of  honour,  and  established  respectability  and  integrity, 
and  at  a  time  when  good  agents  could  scarcely  be  procured,  their  consenting 
to  act  was  an  obligation  conferred  on  their  employer. 

That  he  was  rigidly  scrupulous  in  his  conduct  towards  them,  their  volumi 
nous  correspondence  sufficiently  establishes.  Almost  every  letter  presses  them 
10  be  particular  in  their  accounts,  and  to  leave  not  a  speck  on  their  conduct  to 
excite  suspicion.  In  the  letter  in  which  he  announces  to  his  early  friend  his 
resignation  of  the  quarter-master's  department,  he  says,  "  I  wish  you  and  my 
brother  Jacob  to  have  your  accounts  and  vouchers  forwarded  for  settlement, 
as  they  will  be  sought  for  first.  I  think  you  had  better  get  Mr.  Bowcn  to 
overlook  them,  as  he  is  a  pretty  good  judge  of  what  forms  and  vouchers  are 
necessary.  You  cannot  preserve  too  much  regularity  in  the  business,  as  the 
commissioners  are  very  critical,  and  no  doubt  will  be  more  so  with  yours  than 


. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  185 

common.     These  people  appear  to  pay  little  or  no  attention  to  the  integrity  of  CHAP. 
the  party  and  the  uprightness  of  his  conduct,  but  altogether  to  the  form  and  ^^^^^ 
method  observed  in  transacting  the  business.     As  I  am  sure  you  have  dis 
charged  your  duty  in  one,  so  I  wish  you  to  put  it  out  of  their  power  to  injure 
you  in  the  other.     The  sooner  your  accounts  are  forwarded  the  better." 

Among  the  errors  of  his  administration  may  also  be  noted  liis  failing  to 
dismiss  those  agents  whose  sumptuous  living  involved  the  department  in  popu 
lar  suspicion.  The  support  of  opinion  was  indispensably  necessary  to  all  the 
operations  of  the  feeble  government  under  which  the  war  was  conducted. 
When  a  public  officer,  without  any  private  means  of  sustaining  it,  will  live  in 
habits  of  expense,  which  the  fair  profits  of  his  office  cannot  support,  suspi 
cions  necessarily  follow,  and  jealousy,  envy,  malice,  and  popular  excitement 
soon  convert  those  suspicions  into  proof.*  He  was  not  unconscious  of  the 
unfortunate  impressions  resulting  from  these  causes,  and  they  constituted,  fre 
quently,  the  subject  of  correspondence  with  his  assistants;  but  finding  not  the 
least  cause  to  suspect  the  integrity,  and  having  experienced  the  good  effects  of 
the  industry  and  zeal  of  those  agents,  he  resolved  not  to  sacrifice  them  to 
popular  clamour.  Yet  upon  their  not  listening  to  his  remonstrances,  he  ought, 
perhaps,  to  have  acted  otherwise ;  for  it  was  necessary  that  his  agents  should 
not  only  be  innocent,  but  unsuspected. 

It  was  certainly  an  error  in  General  Greene  to  accept  compensation  by  way 
of  commission  on  the  sums  expended  in  his  office.  This  he  appears  to  have 
done  under  the  influence  of  an  ignorance  of  the  world,  and  of  that  indiscreet 
fearlessness  of  imputation  which  conscious  purity  of  heart  too  often  carries  with 
it  into  the  world.  In  the  ordinary  mercantile  transactions  of  men,  where  the 
chance  of  imposition  is  reciprocal,  where  the  competition  for  business,  and  the 
scrutinizing  spirit  of  individual  interest  are  supposed  to  interpose  a  competent 
check  on  the  transactions  of  an  agent,  the  same  suspicions  are  not  apt  to 
arise.  But  with  a  public  officer  it  is  different;  his  office  gives  him  a  monopoly 
of  profit,  his  means  of  evasion  are  supposed  to  be  great,  and  he  is,  in  public 
opinion,  exposed  to  a  more  than  ordinary  temptation  to  deceive.  For,  such  is 
the  casuistry  with  which  men  examine  their  own  actions,  that  the  moral  turpi 
tude  of  defrauding  the  public  seldom  weighs  as  heavily  on  the  human  con 
science  as  in  the  case  of  friends  or  individuals.  Besides,  every  one  asserts  the 


*  Poor  Mitchel  who  expended  <£ SOO  in  pastry  at  one  entertainment,  was  actually  thought  suffi 
ciently  dignified  by  his  munificence  to  be  made  the  subject  of  a  formal  impeachment  by  a  great 
«tate. 

24 


186  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  right  to  censure,  and  in  proportion  as  individuals  are  excluded  from  the  right 
^-^^s  of  personal  scrutiny,  are  the  public  apt  to  indulge  in  loose  and  general  charges 
and  suspicions.  It  was  not  very  long  before  Greene  discovered  this  error,  and 
he  endeavoured  very  earnestly  to  correct  it  by  proposing  to  have  a  fixed  salary 
substituted,  or  to  be  allowed  only  the  expenses  necessarily  incident  to  his 
family  in  camp.  But  this  proposition  was  held  long  under  discussion,  and  in 
the  rnean  time,  being  unwilling  to  draw  his  commissions,  and  unauthorized  to 
receive  any  other  compensation,  he  was  obliged  to  consume  his  patrimony ; 
and  then  finally,  to. draw  lus  commissions,  when  depreciated  to  nothing. 

Much,  probably,  of  Greene's  embarrassments  in  his  ncgociations  with  con 
gress  was  the  result  of  his  military  cast  of  manners.  The  frankness  of  the 
soldier  is  but  ill  adapted  to  practise  the  conciliating  suppleness  of  the  man  of 
the  world.  He  was  never  loquacious,  nor  ever  guilty  of  the  weakness  of 
indiscriminate  communicativeness.  But  in  his  intercourse  with  the  members 
of  that  body  he  was  strong,  pointed,  and  decisive,  in  his  requisitions ;  and 
while  he  was  ever  ready  to  render  every  service,  and  make  every  sacrifice  for 
the  good  of  the  country,  he  never  sunk  below  his  just  claims  on  the  confidence 
and  gratitude  of  his  employers.  But  they  were  preferred  as  claims,  and  not 
solicited  as  gratuities. 

In  his  communications  with  his  particular  friends  also,  he  exhibits  a  free 
dom  in  his  remarks  which  no  man,  in  his  station,  could  indulge  in,  without 
danger.  Men  in  public  life  would  do  well  always  to  remember  the  aphorism, 
that  "  Walls  have  ears."  His  friends  were  well  chosen,  and  it  is  literally  true, 
that  he  never  lost  a  friend  whom  he  had  once  acquired.  But  there  are  few 
men  proof  against  the  temptation  of  indulging  their  vanity  in  boasting  of  an 
eminent  correspondent,  or  their  partiality  in  boasting  of  the  correct  informa 
tion,  or  wise  remark  of  a  beloved  correspondent.  If  no  other  effect  is  produced, 
it  gives  a  turn  and  point  to  the  conversation  and  opinions,  which  will  be  attri- 
tributed  to  the  hints  of  him  with  whom  one  corresponds.  We  will  give  the 
reader  one  specimen  of  the  remarks  to  which  these  observations  are  intended 
to  apply.  It  is  dated  15th  July  1779. 

"  The  designs  of  the  congress  it  is  difficult  to  interpret,  but  the  state  of  the 
money  remains  much  the  same  as  when  I  wrote  you  before.  Upon  the  whole, 
I  think  it  is  rather  gaining  ground.  It  gains  ground  much  faster  to  the  east 
ward  than  to  the  westward.  The  congress  have  it  now  in  their  power  to  put 
a  check  upon  depreciation,  if  they  had  but  resolution  to  improve  the  opportu 
nity.  But  they  are  always  perplexing  themselves  with  expedients,  until  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  people  cools  and  abates,  and  then,  like  old  maids  who  have 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  [  187 

refused  good  offers  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  are  obliged  to  accept  of  inferior   CHAP. 
objects.  \^-J^s 

"  There  is  a  parcel  of  little  politicians  at  the  head  of  the  treasury  board. 
Their  plans  have  led  our  currency  to  death's  door.  They  are  so  ignorant  of 
the  principles  of  financiering  that  they  mistake  effects  for  causes,  and  causes 
for  effects.  It  is  not  likely  that  a  physician  can  prescribe  successfully  for  a 
disease  which  he  does  not  understand.  This  is  their  situation.  They  are 
distracting  the  community  with  imaginary  evils,  and  spreading  the  spirit  of 
jealousy  far  and  wide.  This  will  prove  the  loss  of  confidence  in  one  another, 
and  we  shall  be  like  a  rope  of  sand,  without  strength  or  cement.  In  a  word, 
I  believe  them  to  be  the  worst  politicians  that  ever  had  the  management  of  so 
important  an  affair.  I  write  to  you  freely,  because  I  write  in  confidence. 

"  The  empire  is  tortured  to  death  with  factions  and  mutual  distrusts.  The 
parties,  instead  of  aiding  each  other  with  their  counsels,  are  opposing  each 
other's  measures.  They  are  more  intent  upon  strengthening  their  own  inte 
rests,  than  promoting  the  common  good.  Thus  the  money  has  been  left  to 
expire  without  a  helping  hand,  and  the  army  to  dissolve  without  regard  to  the 
distress  it  was  in." 

After  all,  perhaps  Greene's  great  misfortune  was  "  that  he  had  made  cui 
enemy"  Experience  only  can  show  the  baneful  consequences  of  such  a  mis 
fortune.  It  is  truly  the  leaven  that  leaveneth  a  great  mass.  "  Beware  how 
you  despise  an  enemy,"  is  a  favourite  military  maxim,  and,  in  civil  life,  may 
justly  be  added,  "  Beware  how  you  make  one."  There  is,  perhaps,  no  human 
being  so  insignificant  as  not  to  be  able,  if  constantly  under  the  wakeful  influ 
ence  of  vindictiveness,  to  find  some  means  of  doing  us  an  injury.  But  when 
possessing  the  advantages  of  personal  respectability,  and  an  extended  inter 
course  with  society,  his  means  of  annoyance  are  truly  formidable.  The 
venomous  spider  does  not  extend  his  snares  for  his  victim  with  more  assiduity, 
or  more  fatal  consequences,  than  vindictiveness. 


188 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


Military  movements.  Battle  of  Springfield.  Major  Andrt.  Reflections.  Greene 
in  command  at  West  Point.  Appointed  to  the  command  of  the  southern  de 
partment. 


VI. 


CHAP.  J.T  was  obvious  that  from  the  time  of  Greene's  resignation,  the  current  of 
.prejudice began  to  set  from  him.  Indeed,  his  enemies  had  given  him  so 
decided  an  advantage  in  the  advances  made  to  get  Colonel  Petit  into  his  place, 
that  every  pretext  was  lost  for  doubting  his  integrity  or  economy.  It  was  well 
known  that  they  equally  shared  the  profits,  and  that  no  important  step  was 
ever  taken  with  regard  to  the  application  of  money  without  Colonel  Peril's 
knowledge.  All  the  money  transactions  passed  through  his  hands,  and  pecu 
lation  in  the  quarter-master-general  must  have  been  winked  at  by  him,  or  it 
could  not  have  prevailed.  The  offer  made  to  him,  therefore,  and  even  his 
appointment  as  assistant  quarter-master-general,  was  at  once  relinquishing 
every  charge  unfavourable  to  integrity,  nay,  to  economy  likewise. 

We  had  pursued  the  military  career  of  General  Greene  up  to  the  time  of 
Sir  Henry  Clinton's  withdrawing  his  troops  from  Rhode  Island.  This  was  in 
the  autumn  of  1779,  and  the  cause  of  the  movement  was  the  expectation  of 
D'Estaing  with  a  powerful  fleet  and  a  considerable  body  of  troops,  who  had 
arrived  on  the  coast,  and  was  then  employed  in  an  attempt  on  the  town  of 
Savannah.  A  joint  attack  on  New  York  had  been  concerted  between  die 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  189 

French  and  American  commanders,  as  soon  as  the  former  should  have  com-  CHAP. 
pleted  the  destruction  of  Savannah.  This  was  thought  to  be  the  work  of 
day,  and  the  fullest  confidence  entertained  in  die  result  of  the  attack.  Unfor 
tunately,  disappointment  in  his  first  attempt  deterred  D'Estaing  from  making 
the  second.  Defeated,  disgraced,  and  mortified,  he  sailed  away  from  Savan 
nah  to  the  West  Indies,  while  the  arrival  of  a  strong  British  fleet  under 
Arbuthnot,  enabled  Clinton  to  prosecute  his  designs  against  Charleston  and 
the  southern  states — still  leaving  a  sufficient  force  under  Generals  Pattison  and 
Knyphausen  to  keep  at  bay  the  feeble,  starving,  dispirited  army  under  "Wash 
ington.  Had  the  American  army  been  at  this  dine  in  a  condition  to  act,  the 
fall  of  New  York  was  certain.  No  rivers  any  longer  interposed  a  barrier 
against  an  attack;  every  stream  was  bound  in  ice  that  would  have  afforded  a 
passage  to  an  army.  Tantalizing  in  the  extreme  was  the  view  to  the  Ameri 
can  commander.  But  his  men  were  fewer  in  number  than  the  garrison  of  the 
town,  and  they  were  half  starved,  half  naked,  sick,  dispirited,  and  deserting. 

The  British  commander  in  New  York  was  exceedingly  alarmed  at  his  situa 
tion  ;  and  is  entitled  to  the  highest  praise  for  his  efforts  to  avert  the  impending 
danger.  The  ships  were  stripped  of  their  seamen,  and  nearly  the  whole  popu 
lation  of  the  city  pressed  into  the  service.  At  this  time  it  was  that  "  the  honour 
able  board  of  associated  loyalists"  was  formed,  and  formed  to  disgrace  the  king 
whom  they  professed  to  serve.  At  least,  it  is  upon  their  implacable  hatred  and 
revenge  that  the  British  writers  throw  off  from  themselves  the  enormities  that 
were  committed  by  the  marauding  parties,  (for  they  merit  that  contemptuous 
epithet,)  which  issued  from  New  York  in  various  directions.  In  a  civil  con 
test,  every  cidzen  has  a  right  to  choose  his  party,  but  not  to  dispense  with  the 
sacred  rights  of  humanity.  Some  of  the  expeditions  in  which  the  loyalists 
took  an  acdve  part  have  been  mentioned.  They  have  still  other  trophies  to 
boast  of.  The  murder  of  Mrs.  Caldwell  with  her  infant  at  her  breast,  the 
burning  of  the  Connecticut  Farms,  and  the  wanton  sacking  of  Springfield, 
two  beautiful,  thriving,  and  pacific  villages ;  as  they  could  produce  no  possible 
benefit  to  tne  royal  cause,  must  be  reprobated  by  the  voice  of  posterity. 

The  last  of  these  events  only,  are  we  at  liberty  particularly  to  notice;  as  it  is 
connected  with  an  event  in  which  the  subject  of  these  pages  acted  a  conspi 
cuous  part. 

It  was  in  December  1779  that  Sir  Henry  Clinton  sailed  from  New  York  on 
his  expedition  against  Charleston.  In  May  1780  the  town  surrendered,  and  in 
June  he  returned  to  New  York. 

During  the  winter,  so  feeble  had  been  the  exertions  made  by  the  states  to 
re-establish  the  American  army,  that  Washington  found  himself,  on  the  return 


190  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  of  Clinton,  in  command  of  an  army  of  5,558  regular  troops,  and  not  above 

^-v^s  3,000  of  those  really  effective.     His  adversary  had  double  that  number,  besides 

the  advantage  of  perfect  concentration,  while  the  American  troops  were  sta- 

.  '  9         tloned  in  the  sweep  of  a  semicircle  of  many  miles,  in  order  to  protect  at  the 

same  time  Philadelphia,  the  banks  of  the  North  River,  and  the  eastern  states 

from  invasion. 

The  incursion  in  which  Mrs.  Caldwell  was  killed  and  the  Connecticut 
Farms  consumed,  took  place  shortly  before  the  return  of  General  Clinton,  and 
terminated  every  way  disreputably  to  the  British  arms.  No  object  could  be 
assigned  to  it,  but  that  which  it  effected,  partial  plunder  and  conflagration. 
The  force  detached  was  not  sufficient  to  make  a  serious  impression  on  the 
country,  and,  that  fighting  was  not  the  object  of  Knyphausen,  Roberson,  and 
Tryon,  who  commanded,  is  sufficiently  evinced  from  their  stealing  back  in  the 
night.  Yet  the  enemy  retired  from  a  more  serious  danger  than  he  was  aware 
of.  Washington's  whole  regular  force  in  that  neighbourhood  was  but  2,500 ; 
these  were  posted  in  advance  of  Morristown  under  Greene.  As  soon  as  the 
advance  of  the  enemy  was  communicated,  a  night  attack  had  been  resolved 
on,  and  Greene's  forces  were  actually  in  motion,  when  the  enemy  moved  off. 
Knyphausen  escaped  but  by  two  hours. 

The  ravages  committed  on  this  occasion  may  have  been  the  immediate  act 
of  the  loyalists,  who  formed  a  part  of  the  British  detachment;  but  the  com 
manders  themselves  were  not  all  loyalists ;  and  whether  or  not,  they  are  all 
responsible  to  posterity  for  the  authorized  acts  of  their  forces. 

As -soon  as  General  Clinton  arrived,  he  began  to  make  dispositions  which, 
manifested  some  serious  design.  Having  now  the  complete  command  of  the 
islands  and  waters  about  New  York,  it  was  in  his  power  to  move  with  force 
and  rapidity  to  many  points.  General  Washington,  whose  head  quarters  were 
then  at  Morristown,  felt  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  his  garrisons  on  the  North 
River,  and  leaving  Greene  in  command  in  the  Jerseys,  he  moved  off  with  in 
tention  to  take  the  command  at  West  Point. 

He  could  spare  but  one  thousand*  regular  trocps  to  perform  the  important 
task  of  occupying  the  passes  of  the  range  of  hills  that  stretch  along  between 
the  rivers  Railway  and  Pasaic,  and  to  cover  the  country  about  Morristown, 
and  the  magazines  which  had  been  collected  in  that  neighbourhood.  To 
these  were  added  a  body  of  perhaps  300  New  Jersey  militia,  who,  about  this 
time,  conducted  themselves  with  a  decision  and  spirit  which  proved,  that  they 


*  Marshall.     Private  letters  say  700. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  191 

never  wanted  any  thing  but  the  support  of  a  regular  army  to  induce  them  uni-   CHAP. 
formly  to  act  with  equal  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  the  revolution.  v^-v^/ 

Things  were  thus  circumstanced  when,  on  the  23d  of  June,  the  enemy  sud 
denly  made  his  appearance  in  great  force  at  Elizabethtown  Point,  and  moving 
with  great  rapidity,  advanced  upon  Greene's  post  in  two  columns  of  2,500* 
men  each,  well  provided  with  cavalry  and  artillery,  and  commanded  by  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  in  person. 

The  village  of  Springfield  is  situate  on  the  west  side  of  the  little  river 
Rahway,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  occupied  by  the  American  army.  It  is 
distant  about  eight  miles  in  a  north-west  direction  from  Elizabethtown  Point. 
Two  roads  lead  from  Elizabethtown  to  Morristown,  the  one  passing  through 
the  village  of  Springfield,  the  other  to  the  northward  of  it.  This  latter  is 
called  the  Vauxhall  road,  and  crosses  above  the  point  of  confluence  of  two 
small  streams,  which  unite  to  form  the  Rahway.  These  roads,  after  passing 
the  hills  at  the  back  of  the  village,  unite.  Over  each  of  these  three  streams 
there  is  a  bridge  constructed  where  the  road  crosses  the  stream. 

Long  as  Greene  had  been  in  service,  so  continually  had  he  been  employed 
under  the  immediate  command  and  near  the  person  of  the  commander  in  chief, 
that  this  was  the  first  opportunity  he  had  ever  had  of  exhibiting  his  capacity  in 
an  independent  command.  And  his  conduct  was  such  as  manifested  resources 
which  his  commander  and  his  immediate  friends  had  always  been  satisfied  of, 
but  no  opportunity  had  yet  been  afforded  him  of  exhibiting;  uninfluenced  by 
•the  counsels,  command,  or  movements  of  a  superior. 

None  of  the  usual  means  of  information  had  been  neglected,  and  he  had  the 
earliest  possible  notice  of  the  enemy's  landing  and  marching.  So  many  were 
the  passes  that  he  had  to  guard,  that  his  men  were  unavoidably  posted  in  dis 
persed  stations.  To  draw  them  together  was  the  first  thing  necessary,  and  to 
gain  time  for  that  purpose  no  effort  was  to  be  omitted.  To  forward  intelli 
gence  to  General  Washington,  to  hasten  die  remote  detachments  to  a  point  of 
rendezvous,  and  to  order  the  several  detachments  immmediately  about  his 
person  to  advance,  skirmish  with,  and  delay  the  enemy,  were  the  work  of  the 
same  instant.  Every  order  was  issued  with  coolness  and  precision,  and  exe 
cuted  with  promptness  and  zeal. 

Colonel  Dayton  was  advanced  to  meet  and  skirmish  with  the  left  column 
of  the  enemy,  whilst  Major  Lee,  afterwards  the  celebrated  partizan  Colonel 
Lee,  with  his  dragoons  and  some  infantry,  performed  the  same  service  against 


Marsha!!. 


192  .  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  their  right.  Both  these  corps  executed  the  duty  assigned  them  with  great 
v^-v-^  spirit,  and  made  all  the  opposition  to  the  enemy's  advance  that  their  inferior 
force  and  the  circumstances  of  the  country  would  admit.  But  scarcely  had 
Greene  collected  and  drawn  up  his  troops  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rahway, 
than  the  heads  of  the  enemy's  columns,  which  had  united  on  the  main  road, 
made  their  appearance. 

Greene's  artillery  was  posted  behind  the  bridge  that  crosses  the  principal 
stream,  and  the  artillery  of  the  enemy  was  in  advance  of  his  columns.  The 
action  .commenced  by  a  brisk  cannonading,  which  was  kept  up  with  great 
spirit  for  near  two  hours.  In  the  mean  time,  the  enemy  manifested,  by  his 
manoeuvring,  an  intention  to  get  into  the  rear  of  the  American  army  by  turn 
ing  their  left.  This  Greene  knew  was  practicable;  for  the  streams  that  formed 
the  Rahway  were  both  passable,  not  only  by  the  bridges  on  the  Vauxhall  road, 
but  by  fording;  and  for  the  enemy  to  possess  himself  of  the  hills  in  his  rear, 
would  be  decisive  against  him.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to  take  a  new  position ; 
and  having  posted  Major  Lee,  with  the  pickets  under  Captain  Walker,  in 
'  advance  at  the  bridge  over  the  southern  branch  of  the  Rahway,  and  Colonel 
Shrive,  with  his  regiment  of  200  men,  at  the  upper  bridge  over  the  principal 
branch ;  he  left  Colonel  Angel,  with  about  1 70  men  and  one  field-piece,  to 
defend  the  lower  bridge,  or  that  over  the  main  stream ;  and  moved  off  to  a 
very  strong  pass  on  the  range  of  hills  in  the  rear  of  the  town,  extending  from 
one  road  to  the  other  where  they  approach  to  their  junction.  Shrive's  position 
was  in  the  route  from  both  the  other  bridges  to  the  point  where  the  main  army- 
was  drawn  up;  and  Lee  and  Angel  were  ordered,  when  Greene  had  gained 
and  occupied  his  ground,  to  retreat  under  protection  of  Colonel  Shrive's  com 
mand. 

Never  were  orders  more  gallantly  executed.  As  soon  as  the  main  body 
began  to  move  off,  the  enemy  made  a  most  furious  assault  with  intent  to  force 
the  bridge  where  Angel  was  posted,  but  met  with  a  reception  that  made  them 
recoil  in  confusion.  Angel  has  not  received  the  rank  among  the  officers  of  the 
revolution  to  which  the  defence  of  this  pass  entitles  him.  For  forty-nine 
minutes,  with  a  handful  of  men,  did  he  maintain  it  against  a  formidable 
column,  with  ten  pieces  of  artillery,  flushed  with  conquest,  and  animated  by 
the  most  gallant  and  experienced  officers.  And  as  soon  as  his  commander  had 
reached  his  destined  position,  after  one  fourth  of  his  numbers  were  killed  or 
wounded,  he,  with  the  utmost  coolness,  retreated  to  the  other  bridge,  where 
Shrive  was  posted,  bringing  off  his  artillery  and  his  wounded. 

Great  gallantry  was  also  displayed  by  Lee  at  the  pass  confided  to  his  pro 
tection.  Supported  by  Colonel  Ogden,  he  maintained  his  post  with  obstinate 


• 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  193 

firmness,  until  a  superior  force  had  forded  the  creek  above  him,  and  gained  a  CHAP. 
hill  which  commanded  his  flank  and  rear.  He  then  retired  as  commanded,  v^^^, 
under  the  protection  of  Shrive.  This  officer  also  distinguished  himself  on  this 
occasion.  Coolly  and  without  the  least  confusion  he  retired  to  the  main  body, 
baffling  every  attempt  of  the  enemy  to  retard  or  alarm  him.  With  his  regular 
force  drawn  up  in  a  single  line,  flanked  by  the  militia  and  dragoons,  Greene 
now  waited  for  the  general  attack.  But  the  enemy  had  received  a  check 
from  die  few  who  had  been  engaged,  which  made  them  respect  the  firm  coun 
tenance  with  which  the  American  army  awaited  the  assault;  and  enraged  at 
the  serious  loss  they  had  sustained,  they  vented  their  fury  on  the  defenceless 
village  now  occupied  by  their  troops.  Immediately  as  the  design  to  set  fire  to 
the  village  wras  developed,  parties  were  ordered  out  in  all  directions  to  prevent 
the  spread  of  the  fire  to  those  buildings  which  were  not  under  cover  of  the 
enemy's  artillery.  And  many  an  English  soldier  bled  that  day  by  the  light  of 
the  flame.  The  enraged  militia  creeping  within  gun-shot,  revenged  them 
selves  by  the  deliberate  selection  of  particular  objects.  As  soon  as  the  village 
was  in  flames,  (for  only  four  houses  out  of  fifty  escaped,)  the  enemy  began 
their  retreat ;  and  as  soon  as  their  intention  was  fully  ascertained,  small  parties 
were  pushed  forward  to  hang  on  their  wings  and  harrass  them,  while  Starke's 
brigade  was  put  in  motion  for  pursuit. 

But  being  disencumbered  of  baggage,  the  celerity  of  their  retreat,  and  a 
powerful  rear  guard,  preserved  them  from  any  essential  injury.  By  two 
o'clock  they  reached  the  point  at  which  they  had  landed,  and  at  twelve  at 
night  recrossed  to  the  city. 

This  was,  upon  the  whole,  a  disgraceful  day  to  the  British  army.  If  the 
burning  of  Springfield  was  their  sole  object,  it  was  one  which  stamps  indeli 
ble  infamy  upon  them.  If  the  burning  of  a  beautiful  and  defenceless  village 
was  not  their  object,  then  wore  they  repulsed  by  a  very  inferior  foe. 

As  soon  as  General  Washington  received  intelligence  of  the  advance  of  the 
enemy,  he  dispatched  a  reinforcement  of  300  men  to  Greene's  assistance,  and 
rapidly  returned  himself  some  miles  on  the  route  to  Springfield.  But  he  was 
too  far  off  to  afford  any  aid  in  the  action.  The  party  detached  did  not  reach 
the  scene  of  action  until  long  after  the  retreat  of  the  enemy ;  and  the  main 
body  had  not  proceeded  on  their  return  above  five  or  six  miles  before  the  intel 
ligence  was  communicated  that  the  retreat  had  commenced.* 


*  Greene's  letter  to  Gordon. 

25" 


194  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.       The  conduct  of  the  American  army  on  that  day  has  drawn  forth  the  follow- 

VL 

eulogiutn  from  a  British  pen:  "These  ineffectual  attempts  by  a  force 
which  would  have  been  deemed  capable  of  sweeping  the  whole  continent 
before  it,  sufficiently  manifested  that  the  practical  habits  of  service  and  danger, 
without  any  thing  near  absolute  perfection  in  discipline,  will  place  all  troops 
nearly  upon  an  equality.  It  was  now  evident  that  the  British  forces  had  aa 
enemy  little  less  respectable  in  the  field  than  themselves  to  encounter;  and  that 
any  difference  which  yet  remained  in  their  favour,  would  be  daily  lessened. 
In  a  word,  it  was  now  obvious,  that  all  that  superiority  in  arms  which  produced 
such  effects  in  the  beginning  of  the  contest,  was,  in  a  great  measure,  at  an  end; 
and  that  the  events  of  the  war  must,  in  future,  depend  upon  fortune,  and  upon 
die  abilities  of  the  respective  commanders.77* 

We  are  in  possession  of  the  original  rough  draught  of  Greene's  official 
account  of  this  battle.  It  is  a  specimen  of  clear  natural  description,  and  mo 
dest  good  sense.  For  the  manner  in  which  he  made  communications  to  his 
private  correspondents,  we  will  give  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  a 
very  particular  friend:  "Were  it  to  any  other  person  I  am  indebted  for  an 
account  of  the  enemy's  late  excursion  to  Springfield  and  their  expulsion  from 
Jersey,  I  should  think  the  obligation  a  small  one ;  but  relations  of  this  kind 
come  so  sparingly  from  you,  especially  where  your  own  part  in  the  business 
gives  you  the  best  information,  that  I  am  thankful  for  so  small  a  portion  of  so 
rich  a  subject  as  that '  We  have  had  a  small  Jight  with  the  enemy  at  Springfield; 
they  have  since  evacuated  Jersey,  and  gone  up  the  North  River.7 

"  How  am  I  by  this,  better  informed  than  the  crowd  at  the  coffee-house,  save 
that  I  have  better  evidence  of  a  few  points  in  the  transaction,  which  are  too 
conspicuous  to  be  unknown  even  to  the  vulgar?  But,  of  circumstances,  most 
entertaining,  instructive,  and  interesting  to  private  feelings,  I  learn  not  so  much 
as  those  who  take  common  fame  for  their  informer.  Is  it  to  avoid  egotism 
that  you  are  thus  shy  and  reserved  ?  And  does  this  arise  from  mere  modesty, 
or  from  that  conscious  pride  which  disdains  to  open  the  mouth  of  fame  by  any 
other  mode  than  extortion  ?  One  general  is  so  enraptured  with  the  sound  of 
the  trumpet  that,  like  youth  in  the  height  of  excited  passion,  he  loses  sight  of 
every  other  object  in  the  energy  of  a  particular  pursuit.  Another,  to  avoid 
the  ridicule  deservedly  excited  by  folly,  like  a  mendicant  friar,  denies  himself 


Annual  Register,  1781,  p.  18. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  195 

the  common  rights  of  humanity,  and  seeks  present  mortification  in  hopes  of  CTTAP. 
future  reward.     But  I  like  not  the  extremes  of  either  libertinism  or  stoicism."  v^^-^, 

» 

Little  more  was  done  by  the  northern  army  during  this  campaign;  the 
scene  had  shifted  to  the  south,  and  both  armies  to  the  north  were  anxiously 
looking  for  the  promised  and  long  expected  aid  from  France. 

It  arrived  on  the  llth  July.  But  arrived  to  repose  six  months  in  the  luxu 
rious  enjoyment  of  the  comforts  and  elegancies  of  Newport. 

The  fleet  of  De  Tierney  was  superior  to  that  of  the  British ;  and  the  6,000 
well-disciplined  troops  that  it  transported,  ought  to  have  secured  to  the  allies  a 
superiority  by  land  and  sea;  but  the  opportunity  for  enterprize  was  soon  lost 
by  the  arrival  of  Admiral  Graves,  with  a  force  which  gave  preponderance  to 
the  opposite  scale.  Clinton  immediately  prepared  for  action,  and  marched  a 
strong  force  to  the  eastern  extremity  of  Long  Island,  with  intent  to  make  an 
attempt  on  Newport.  His  watchful  adversary,  the  American  commander, 
was  also  on  the  alert,  and  immediately  directed  his  views  to  the  long  medi 
tated  attempt  on  New  York.  This  he  was  enabled  to  do,  by  the  alacrity  with 
which  the  militia  crowded  to  his  standard,  immediately  on  the  arrival  of  the 
French  army.  With  all  the  salutary  jealousies  entertained  of  standing  armies, 
the  militia  are  generally  willing  to  shelter  themselves,  in  time  of  real  action, 
under  the  cover  of  regular  forces. 

Greene,  it  will  be  recollected,  was,  at  this  time,  acting  in  the  quarter-mastcr- 
general's  department.  And  it  was  during  the  vexations  attending  the  immense 
efforts  he  had  to  make  to  give  activity  by  land  and  .water  to  12,000  troops,  that 
many  of  those  expressions  of  disgust  were  extorted  which  he  has  vented  in  his 
letters.  The  good  of  the  service  and  the  honour  of  his  commander,  now  to  be 
supported  under  the  eye  of  their  allies,  were  near  to  his  heart;  and  not  to  have 
command  of  the  resources  indispensable  to  his  purposes,  or  to  have  them  ad 
vanced  with  reluctance  and  expressions  of  distrust,  had  drawn  clouds  over  a 
temper  generally  all  sunshine,  but  still  susceptible  of  strong  excitement. 

Indeed,  the  situation  of  an  American  officer  at  that  time,  without  the  addi 
tional  causes  that  acted  upon  Greene,  was  one  of  the  most  trying  that  can  be 
imagined.  Amidst  all  their  sufferings,  privations,  and  dangers,  to  be  obliged 
moreover  to  exhaust  their  little  patrimony  to  support  themselves  in  camp,  and 
yet  not  to  be  confided  in,  but  regarded  with  real  or  affected  jealousy  by  the 
government  they  were  serving  with  so  much  zeal  and  fidelity,  was  more  than 
every  temper  could  tolerate,  or  every  mind  bear  without  the  deepest  disgust. 

Many  of  the  best  officers  had  resigned;  during  the  distresses  of  the  Valley 
Forge  the  spirit  of  resignation  had  become  so  prevalent,  particularly  in  the 


196  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Virginia  line,  that  the  most  serious  and  alarming  consequences  were  appre- 
T^-^^,  bended.  Since  that  time,  from  the  restoration  of  comparative  order  and 
plenty  in  camp,  and  the  vote  of  half  pay  for  life,  it  had  in  a  measure  subsided; 
but  now  again,  such  were  the  distresses  and  mortification  produced  by  the 
total  failure  of  the  paper  currency ;  and  such  the  apprehension  excited  by  the 
recent  discussions  in  congress,  on  the  adoption  of  a  new  system  in  the  econo 
my  of  the  army,  that  nothing  but  patriotic  devotion  to  their  country  and  their 
chief,  kept  most  of  them  in  the  service.  The  men  who  passed  through  these 
trials  and  rose  superior  to  them,  merit  statues. 

Hear  this  from  the  pen  of  Washington.  After  complaining  that  his  troops 
were  generally  destitute  of  shirt?,  and  many  of  them  of  a  more  indispensable 
article  of  clothing,  he  proceeds:  "  It  is  also  most  sincerely  to  be  wished,  that 
there  could  be  some  supplies  of  clothing  furnished  to  die  ofiicers.  There  are  a 
great  many  whose  condition  is  still  miserable.  This  is  in  some  instances  the 
case  with  the  whole  line  of  the  states.  It  will  be  well  for  their  own  sakes  and 
for  the  public  good,  if  they  could  be  furnished.  They  will  not  be  able  when 
our  friends  come  to  co-operate  with  us,  to  go  on  a  common  routine  of  duty; 
and  if  they  should,  they  must,  from  their  appearance,  be  held  in  low  estima 
tion." 

After  this,  the  reader  will  not  be  surprized  to  learn  that  scandal  whispered, 
it  was  not  unusual  to  fit  out  the  officer  of  the  day  by  contributory  loans  for  the 
honour  of  a  regiment,  or  even  a  state ;  and  that,  in  one  instance,  there  was  but 
one  suit  of  parade  clothes  in  a  whole  regiment.  And  from  whence  did  relief 
arrive  at  last?  From  the  heart  where  patriotism  erects  her  favourite  shrine, 
and  from  the  hand  which  seldom  is  closed  or  withdrawn  when  the  soldier 
solicits. 

The  ladies  of  Philadelphia  immortalized  themselves  by  commencing  the 
generous  work,  and  it  was  a  work  too  grateful  to  die  feelings  of  the  American 
fair,  not  to  be  followed  up  with  zeal  and  alacrity.  The  profane  pen  of  a 
Rivington  may  have  sneeringly  written,  that  die  linen  of  the  fair-one  was 
converted  into  a  corresponding  garment  to  decorate  the  person,  or  add  to  the 
comforts  of  a  lover;  but  die  fear  of  ridicule  shrunk  away  from  the  more  inte 
resting  reflection,  that  soon  it  might  be  tinged  with  the  heart's  blood  of  the 
wearer. 

By  the  greatest  efforts,  the  means  of  transportation  and  of  a  joint  attack  by 
land  and  water  on  New  York,  were  prepared ;  and  with  renovated  hope,  the 
American  army  marched  to  brave  the  assault,  under  a  full  knowledge  of  its 
accumulated  dangers. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  191 

Clinton  soon  discovered  his  danger,  and  although  the  British  writers  attri-'  CHAP. 
bute  his  retrograde  movement  to  the  prevalence  of  dissensions  between  the  ^^X^ 
army  and  the  navy,  it  is  more  just  to  his  military  reputation  to  attribute  it  to 
the  movement  of  the  American  army.     He  soon  regained  the  fortresses  that 
defended  his  strong  hold,  and  it  was  once  more  in  a  state  of  safety. 

Such  also  would  probably  have  been  the  efiect  upon  the  conduct  of  General 
Howe,  had  the  same  measures  been  adopted  to  counteract  his  expedition 
against  Philadelphia.  And  such,  had  Washington  felt  himself  at  liberty  to  act 
untramelled  by  an  Aulic  Council,  and  possessing  his  present  experience,  would 
probably  have  been  the  course  pursued.  His  conduct  manifested  a  strong  dis 
position  to  pursue  it. 

Upon  the  return  of  General  Clinton,  Washington's  militia  were  dismissed; 
for  he  could  not  subsist  them ;  and  his  army,  though  now  reduced  very  low, 
he  soon  after  recrossed  into  Jersey,  and  encamped  at  Orangetown. 

It  was  when  Washington  was  on  his  march  to  Kingsbridge,  with  a  view  to 
the  attempt  on  New  York,  and  when  he  had  mustered  under  him  every  man 
who  could  carry  a  musket,  that  he  placed  Arnold  in  command  of  a  corps  of 
invalids  at  West  Point.  The  commander  in  chief  had  offered  him  a  command 
suitable  to  his  rank  and  reputation  in  the  army;  but  he  made  the  unhealcd 
state  of  his  wounds,  and  some  other  causes,  the  pretext  for  declining  it;  for  his 
negociations  for  the  surrender  of  West  Point,  had  already  commenced,  or 
been  consummated;  and  he  made  interest  to  obtain  that  appointment. 

Greene  was  in  command  of  the  American  army,  at  die  time  Arnold's 
treachery  was  detected.  Soon  after  the  relinquishment  of  the  entcrprize 
against  New  York,  a  meeting  was  concerted  to  take  place  between  the  Ame 
rican  commander  in  chief,  and  the  French  military  and  naval  commanders. 
Hartford,  on  the  Connecticut  River,  was  the  place  assigned  for  their  meeting, 
and  its  object  was  to  consult  on  their  future  joint  operations. 

Upon  the  departure  of  Washington,  Greene  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
main  army.  This  was  on  the  17th  of  September.  On  the  18th,  Admiral 
Rodney  arrived  with  such  an  overwhelming  reinforcement  to  the  British  navy, 
as  must  have  set  the  consultations  at  Hartford  all  at  nought.  From  that  time 
Greene's  communications  to  the  president  of  congress  are  full  of  the  hurried 
preparations  going  on  at  New-York  for  some  important  enterprize.  Little  did 
he  or  any  other  suspect  to  what  point  that  enterprize  wi?s  directed.  It  appears 
that  he  had  established  a  regular  communication  for  obtaining  intelligence 
from  the  city  by  spies;  and  his  correspondents  in  that  place  were  at  a  loss 
whether  the  expedition  was  intended  against  Rhode  Island  or  Virginia.  To 
one  or  the  other  of  those  places  the  enemy  had  been  careful  to  throw  out  hints, 


198  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   or  exhibit  appearances  that  the  expedition  was  directed.     Yet  Greene  was  not 
NX*V^V,  deceived ;  for  in  a  letter  of  the  21st  to  General  Washington,  he  writes,  "  Colo 
nel  communicated  the  last  intelligence  we  have  from  New  York ; 

since  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  the  least  information  of  what  is  going 
on  there,  though  we  have  people  in  from  three  different  quarters.  None  of 
them  returning  makes  me  suspect  some  secret  expedition  is  in  contemplation, 
the  success  of  which  depends  altogether  upon  its  being  kept  a  secret." 

This  letter  is  dated  at  Tappan,  for  to  that  place  he  had  been  directed  by 
General  Washington,  on  his  departure  for  Hartford,  to  remove  a  division  of 
the  army. 

On  the  23d,  the  whole  mystery  was  developed  by  the  capture  of  Major 
Andre.  He  had  ascended  the  river  in  the  Vulture  sloop  of  war  to  hold  a  per 
sonal  conference  with  General  Arnold.  The  British  commander  had  become 
sensible  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost ;  as  most  probably,  on  the  return  of  Wash 
ington  from  Hartford,  he  would  assume  the  command  in  person  at  West  Point, 
or  confide  it  to  Greene.  The  present,  therefore,  was  the  most  favourable  time 
that  would  ever  present  itself;  the  recent  movement  of  the  army  nearer  that 
place,  excited  to  dispatch;  and  the  arrival  of  Rodney  gave  the  enemy  the 
command  of  such  abundant  means  of  water  transportation,  without  exposing 
the  city  to  a  coup  de  main  from  the  French  and  American  forces,  that  the  Bri 
tish  commander  would  have  been  culpably  negligent,  not  to  have  embraced  it. 
Andre  was  accordingly  dispatched  to  make  the  final  arrangement  for  consum 
mating  the  treachrry  of  Arnold. 

The  well  known  object  of  Arnold's  negotiation  was  to  put  Clinton  in  pos 
session  of  the  post  at  West  Point.  This  is  a  beautiful  little  plane,  lying  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Hudson,  a  little  below  where  it  breaks  through  the  chain  of 
mountains  called  the  Highlands.  Its  form  is  nearly  circular;  in  one  half  of  its 
circumference  defended  by  a  precipice  of  great  height,  rising  abruptly  from 
the  river;  and  on  the  other,  by  a  chain  of  rugged,  impassable  mountains.  It 
is  accessible  by  one  pass  only  from  the  river,  and  that  is  narrow  and  easily 
defended;  while,  on  the  land  side,  it  can  be  approached  only  at  two  points,  by 
roads  that  wind  through  the  mountains,  and  enter  it  at  the  river  bank,  on  the 
north  and  south. 

Great  importance  had  always  been  attached  to  this  post  by  the  Americans, 
and  great  labour  and  expense  bestowed  upon  fortifying  it;  whether  judiciously 
or  to  good  effect,  has  never  been  tested.  But  the  place  is  naturally,  scarcely 
assailable,  very  health}',  and  commands  the  river,  throughout  a  long  circuit  that 
k  stretches  round  die  point,  and  where  it  is  deep  and  very  narrow. 


' 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  199 

The  North  River  had  long  been  the  great  vein  that  supplied  life  to  the   CHAP. 
American  army;  and  had  the  enemy  obtained  possession  of  this  post,  besides ^~v^*s 
the  actual  loss  in  men  and  stores,  the  American  army  would  have  been  cut  off 
from  their  principal  resources  in  the  ensiling  winter,  or  been  obliged  to  fall 
back  above  the  Highlands,  and  leave  all  the  country  below  open  to  conquest; 
while  the  communication  between  the  eastern  and  western  states  would  have 
been  seriously  interrupted,  if  not  wholly  occluded. 

Arnold  well  knew  the  bearing  of  this  post  upon  all  the  operations  of  the 
American  army,  and  afterwards  avowed  his  confident  expectation,  that  had 
the  enemy  got  possession  of  it,  the  contest  must  have  ceased,  and  America 
been  subdued.  Clinton,  it  appears,  also  well  understood  the  value  of  this 
place ;  and  it  is  probable,  that  the  purchase  of  it  had  been  arranged  with 
Arnold  some  months  prior  to  the  detection  of  die  plot.  It  was  well  remem 
bered,  afterwards,  that  he  had  intrigued  for  some  time  to  get  appointed  to  the 
command,  not  only  in  person,  but  through  the  agency  of  his  friends  in  con 
gress  and  the  army;  and  the  activity  which  he  displayed  in  making  his  escape, 
and  afterwards,  as  a  commander  under  Clinton,  support  the  belief  that  the  pain 
and  weakness  from  his  wounded  legs,  on  which  he  founded  his  claims  to  a 
command  suited  to  an  invalid,  were  in  a  great  degree  affected.  Indeed,  in  one 
of  his  publications  he  acknowledges,  that  he  had  long  retained  his  commission 
only  to  find  some  opportunity  to  inflict  such  a  blow. 

The:  eventful  career  of  this  unhappy  man  exhibits  a  melancholy  specimen, 
either  of  the  fearful  instability  of  human  virtue,  or  of  the  singular  combinations 
to  be  met  with,  of  the  greatest  and  vilest  qualities  in  the  same  character.  He 
was  unquestionably  one  of  the  bravest  soldiers  of  the  age ;  nor  did  he  only 
excel  in  the  mere  animal  and  subordinate  quality  of  personal  courage;  he  had 
a  head  to  plan,  and  genius  and  conduct  to  execute  the  boldest  and  most  com 
plicate  undertakings.  There  was  in  him  a  spirit  of  adventure  almost  romantic; 
yet  it  did  not  exhibit  itself  in  mere  ebullitions,  or  desultory  efforts ;  for  he  was 
capable  of  the  most  enviable  perseverance.  This  was  strikingly  exemplified  in 
his  expedition  through  the  wilderness  against  Quebec,  Yet  he  was  a  villain, 
or  became  one.  If  the  latter,  perhaps  his  case  presents  an  instance  of  die 
demoralizing  effects  of  persecution,  even  upon  sound  principles.  The  most 
timid  animal  becomes  terrible  under  the  influence  of  despair.  He  affected  to 
think  that  in  the  prosecutions  instituted  in  Philadelphia  against  him,  for  his 
conduct  in  Canada  as  well  as  Philadelphia,  he  had  been  treated  with  harsh 
ness,  if  not  injustice;  with  indignity,  he  certainly  had  been,  and  to  a  proud 
spirit,  elevated  by  glory  and  command,  this  is  the  least  tolerable  of  all  injuries. 


200  .  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.       Yet  we  are  iu  possession  of  too  many  reasons  for  believing  that  he  was  in 
^^"constitution  a  villain;  and  had  only  added  to  the  most  depraved  principles, 
the  finish  of  hypocrisy. 

There  is  not  a  more  impudent  instance  on  record  of  an  attempt  to  palliate 
crime  and  justify  treachery,  than  his  letter  of  the  25th  September,  written  to 
General  Washington  from  on  board  of  the  Vulture;  or  that  of  the  1st  October, 
•  addressed  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  from  New  York. 

--'»         i 

The  first  begins  with  "  The  heart  which  is  conscious  of  its  own  rectitude, 
cannot  attempt  to  palliate  a  step  which  the  world  may  censure  as  wrong.  I 
have  ever  acted  from  a  principle  of  love  to  my  country,  since  the  commence 
ment  of  the  present  unhappy  contest  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies: 
the  same  principle  of  love  to  my  country  actuates  my  present  conduct,  how 
ever  it  may  appear  inconsistent  to  the  world,  who  very  seldom  judge  rightly  of 

any  man's  actions,"  Sec. 

'. 

Twice  in  the  course  of  the  letter  addressed  to  the  people,  has  he  the  hardi 
hood  to  invoke  the  sacred  name  of  the  Almighty:  "  You  have  felt  the  torture 
in  which  we  have  raised  our  arms  against  a  brother.  God  incline  the  guilty 
protractors  of  these  unnatural  dissensions  to  resign  their  ambition  and  cease 
from  their  delusions,  in  compassion  to  kindred  blood.  In  behalf  of  the  candid 
among  the  latter,  some  of  whom  I  believe,  serve  blindly,  but  honestly  in  the 
bands  1  have  left,  I  pray  God  to  give  them  all  the  light  requisite  to  their  own 
safety  before  it  is  too  late ;  and  with  respect  to  that  herd  of  censurers  whose 
enmity  to  me  originated  in  their  hatred  to  the  principles  by  which  I  am  led  to 
devote  my  life  to  the  re-union  of  the  British  empire  as  the  best  and  only  means 
to  dry  up  the  streams  of  misery  that  have  deluged  this  country,  they  may  be 
assured  that,  conscious  of  the  rectitude  of  my  intentions,  I  shall  treat  their  ma 
lice  and  calumny  with  contempt  and  neglect." 

The  reasons  which,  in  this  address,  he  assigns  for  his  justification  are,  the 
refusal  of  congress  to  listen  to  the  overtures  made  by  Great  Britain,  and  the 
alliance  entered  into  with  France.  But  it  happened,  most  unfortunately  for 
the  candour  of  this  pious  and  virtuous  man,  that  on  board  a  packet,  captured 
on  her  passage  from  England  to  New  York  in  January  following,  was  found  a 
letter  from  a  London  banker,  addressed  to  General  Arnold,  which  contained 
these  words: 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  201 

"PARLIAMENT-STREET,  3Qth  January,  1781.       CHAP. 

*  SIR,  Jl^ 

•'  I  have  received  the  honour  of  your  different  letters,  enclosing  bills  of 
exchange  upon  Harley  and  Drummond,  bankers  to  the  court,  of  £5,000,  ster 
ling,"  &c.* 

How  many  of  these  sets  of  bills  for  £5,000  each,  were  drawn  in  favour  of 
the  immaculate  general,  is  not  known.  Report  at  that  time  stated,  in  addition 
to  a  commission  of  brigadier,  he  stipulated  for  £20,000  as  the  price  of  West 
Point;  but  on  the  failure  of  the  principal  part  of  the  contract,  he  compounded 
for  £10,000  sterling.  For  this  he  had  sacrificed  the  respect  of  mankind,  and 
the  calm  of  an  approving  conscience. 

Indeed,  discoveries  were  made  shortly  after  Arnold's  defection,  to  which  a 
proper  publicity  was  promptly  given,  and  which  set  his  character  in  a  very 
unfavourable  point  of  view.  A  few  extracts  from  original  letters  will  furnish 
the  most  satisfactory  information  of  these  facts. 


From  Colonel  Petit  to  General  Greene. 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  October  6th,  1780. 

"  I  arrived  in  town  yesterday,  and  found  the  inhabitants  had  been  much 
roused  by  the  discovery  of  General  Arnold's  plot.  The  whigs  are  now  more 
exasperated  at  Mrs.  Arnold,  from  a  number  of  letters  that  have  been  found, 
which  had  passed  between  her  and  General  Arnold.  A  number  of  commer 
cial  connexions  of  a  very  offensive  nature  are  discovered ;  but  I  don't  hear  of 

any  with  him  in  his  diabolical  scheme  of  betraying  the  fort.     Mr. has 

been  obliged  to  leave  the  town  from  an  agreement  being  found  between  him 
and  Arnold,  to  share  the  profits  of  the  goods  taken  from  the  inhabitants,  when 
the  enemy  left  the  city." 

From  Colonel  Coxe. 

"  22d  October  1780. 

"  Among  the  papers  of  Arnold  there  was  found  an  agreement,  signed 
Arnold, and ,  dated  a  few  days  after  he  entered  the  city;  set- 


*  Annual  Register. 

26 


2°2  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   ting  forth,  that  as  there  were  large  quantities  of  goods  in  the  city  not  wanted 

the  army,  said and were  to  purchase  all  in  their  power,  at 

the  joint  risk  and  profit  of  the  three.     What  purchases  were  made  remain  a 

secret  as  yet.     is  proscribed  by  the  state,  and has  thought  it 

prudent  to  leave  the  city  for  awhile.  The  inhabitants,  I  am  told,  are  much 
enraged  at  his  conduct.  And  many  suits  have  been  commenced  against  him 
by  those  from  whom  the  goods  were  taken." 

To  explain  these  two  letters  it  is  proper  to  mention ;  when  General  Wash 
ington  left  liis  camp  near  Philadelphia,  to  enter  on  the  pursuit  of  General 
Clinton,  he  left  Arnold  in  command  at  that  place.  It  was  this  opportunity 
that  Arnold  had  embraced  to  plunder  the  merchants  in  the  manner  mentioned, 
by  pretending  to  draw  upon  them  for  goods  for  the  use  of  die  army.  But  he 
had  been  accused  of  a  similar  piece  of  conduct  at  Montreal ;  and  the  following 
passage  of  a  letter  from  General  Alexander  Hamilton  will  show  that  he  had 
pursued  similar  practices  when  in  command  at  West  Point. 

"  This  man  Arnold  is  in  every  sense  despicable.  In  addition  to  the  scene  of 
knavery  and  prostitution  during  his  command  in  Philadelphia,  which  the  late 
seizure  of  his  papers  has  unfolded,  the  history  of  his  command  at  West  Point 
is  a  history  of  little,  as  well  as  great  villainies.  He  practised  every  dirty  act  of 
peculation,  and  even  stooped  to  connexions  with  die  suttlers  of  die  garrison, 
to  defraud  the  public." 

But  Arnold  was  a  hypocrite, — a  description  of  men  who  are  capable  of  die 
vilest  actions,  and  incapable  of  reformation ;  because,  their  distinguishing  vice 
is  founded  in  meanness  and  practical  falsehood. 

In  a  letter  written  to  General  Greene  so  short  a  time  prior  to  his  detection  as 
the  llth  of  the  same  month,  he  speaks  of  public  delinquency  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  army,  as  a  crime  which  ought  to  be  punished  capitally. 

"  Yours  of  the  8th,  by  Captain  Vanderhorst  and  Lieutenant  M'Call,  were 
delivered  me  by  those  gentlemen.  I  have  endeavoured  to  render  their  situa 
tion  pleasing  to  them  during  their  short  stay  with  me ;  which  respect  I  shall 
always  be  happy  to  pay  to  any  gentleman  who  entitles  himself  to  your  intro 
duction  and  recommendation. 

"  It  is  a  matter  much  to  be  lamented,  that  our  army  is  permitted  to  starve  in 
a  land  of  plenty.  There  is  a  fault  somewhere ;  it  ought  to  be  traced  up  to  its 
authors,  and  if  it  was  prepense,  they  ought  to  be  capitally  punished.  This  is,  in 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  2ft 

opinion,  die  only  means  left  to  procure  a  regular  supply  to  the  army  in   CHAP. 

future.  wvx. 

"  With  sentiments  of  die  most  sincere  regard  and  affection,  I  am,"  Sec. 

Yet  Arnold  was  far  from  being  penurious.  On  die  contrary,  all  his  mean 
nesses  were  committed  to  enable  him  to  maintain  a  style  in  living  very  far  above 
his  known  resources.  And  when  did  poverty  with  expensive  habits,  ever  fail 
to  attract  the  eye  of  seduction  ?  It  was  observed,  not  long  after  the  evacuation 
of  Philadelphia,  that  he  had  purchased  a  sumptuous  establishment,  and  lived 
in  a  style  which  few,  (at  least  of  the  whigs,)  could  emulate.  Indeed,  notwith 
standing  his  hatred  afterwards  expressed  to  the  French  nation,  when  he  found 
ft  convenient  to  assign  that  as  one  cause  of  his  defection ;  on  the  arrival  of  the 
French  minister,  Arnold  had  entertained  him  at  his  house  hi  a  manner,  which 
no  other  man  connected  with  the  government,  could  dien  pretend  to.  Not 
knowing  of  the  scheme  of  plunder  which  had  been  played  off  by  him  upon  the 
merchants  of  die  city,  public  suspicion  attributed  his  apparent  wealth  to  frauds 
practised  in  his  accounts ;  and  at  the  instance  of  the  wliigs  of  Philadelphia,  he 
underwent  a  very  severe  scrutiny,  and  had  his  charges  reduced  at  a  most  ruin 
ous  rate.  There  were  many  who  doubted  die  correctness  of  this  act,  and  with 
the  army  his  reputation  had  not  suffered  materially ;  for  they  were  not  satis 
fied  with  the  justice  or  liberality  of  the  board  who  investigated  his  account?. 

The  consequence  was,  an  enormous  balance  against  him,  which  drove  him, 
perhaps,  from  the  elegance  and  comforts  of  Philadelphia  to  those  of  New  York. 
Yet  there  is  reason  to  suspect,  diat  even  at  diat  time,  he  was  basking  in  the 
sunshine  of  royal  favour,  dirough  the  medium  of  Messrs.  Harley  &,  Drum- 
mond,  court  bankers.  For  all  his  intimacies  were  remarked  to  exist  among 
the  disaffected  families  of  Philadelphia.  Many  of  those  had  remained  in  Phi 
ladelphia  during  the  time  that  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  And  diat 
they  lived  on  the  best  terms  of  friendly  intercourse  with  Sir  William  Howe 
and  his  officers,  is  recorded  in  die  printed  account  of  the  celebrated  Mischi- 
anza,  given  by  his  officers  to  then*  general,  on  his  being  supcrceded  in  the 
command  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton.  Among  the  fair  ladies  who,  on  this  occa 
sion,  condescended  to  grace  the  tournament  with  their  presence,  and  in  the 
voluptuous  elegance  of  Turkish  dresses,  to  bestow  what,  in  chivalry,  are  called 
favours  on  dieir  gallant  British  knights,  will  be  found  the  names  of  some  of  the 
most  opulent  and  fashionable  families  of  Philadelphia.  These  became  the 
favourite  society  of  Arnold ;  and  as  they  had  enjoyed  "  the  glorious  mountain 
tops,"  while  the  poor  whigs  had  been  "  battening  on  the  moor,"  it  may  very 
well  be  supposed,  that  it  was  not  without  some  disagreeable  sensations  that  the 


204  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  latter  found  themselves  outdone  by  the  liberal  living  of  the  former;  and  per- 
w^v-^,  haps  they  were  somewhat  uneasy  at  die  corrupting  influence  which  polished 
society,  embellished  by  beauty  and  wealth,  might  exert  over  the  political  tenets 
of  their  oilicers.  Certain  it  is,  that  Arnold  gave  great  umbrage  by  devotin^ 
himself,  and  attaching  his  brother  officers  to  this  description  of  society,  and 
even  at  that  time,  was  suspected  by  many  to  be  disaffected. 

The  developement  of  Arnold's  plot  was  communicated  to  Greene  by  a  letter 
from  Colonel  Hamilton,  dated  Verplank's  Point.  It  was  received  the  evciiin«- 
of  the  25th.  The  object  of  the  preparations  in  New  York  immediately  became 
palpable ;  and  without  delay,  he  made  every  disposition  for  marcliing  to  the 
defence  of  West  Point;  so  that  when  General  Washington's  order  reached 
him,  at  a  quarter  past  three,  on  the  morning  of  die  26di,  the  whole  army  had 
already  been  put  under  marching  orders.  The  first  Pensylvania  brigade  under 
Wayne  had  been  first  put  in  motion;  so  that  it  actually  fell  to  the  lot  of  Andre  to 
find  the  "  warrio-drover  Wayne"  in  command,  when  he  was  delivered  a  prisoner 
at  the  village  of  Tappan.  But  Wayne  did  not  sit  iii  the  board  of  officers  who 
tried  him;  perhaps  from  considerations  of  delicacy;  diere  may  have  remained 
something  of  personal  irritation ;  die  wounds  of  the  pon  last  longer  than  those 
of  the  sword. 

It  is  very  well  known,  that  Major  Andre  was  taken  near  a  place  called 
Tarrytown,  on  the  east  side  of  die  Hudson,  where  it  forms  Haverstraw  Bay. 
Ten  years  afterwards,  the  large  sycamore  near  which  he  was  taken,  was  shown 
to  the  traveller;  and  the  incidents  at  his  capture  were  familiarly  known  to 
and  related  by  every  inhabitant  of  die  village.  Paulding,  Williams,  and  Van- 
vert,  who  captured  him,  were  poor,  but  reputable  men,  and  exhibited  a  striking 
instance  of  disinterestedness  and  fidelity.  Andre  offered  them  large  bribes,  but 
diey  were  not  to  be  corrupted,  and  conducted  him  a  prisoner  to  Colonel  Jamie- 
son,  who  commanded  a  .scouting  party  on  that  side  of  die  river.* 

The  circumstances  attending  the  capture  of  Andre  are  differently  related  by 
die  different  authors  who  have  written  on  the  American  war.     They  are  all 


*  There  occurred,  about  this  time,  two  signal  instances  of  extraordinary  integrity  among  the 
American  soldiery,  which  did  great  honour  to  the  national  character,  and  contributed  not  a  little 
to  convince  the  enemy  that  the  hearts  of  the  people  were  interested  in  the  revolution.  Arnold's 
proclamation,  calculated  to  seduce  the  American  soldiers  to  desert,  is  said,  by  the  English  writers, 
not  to  have  produced  a  solitary  instance  of  desertion  j  and  when  the  Pennsylvania  line  mutinied, 
the  emissaries  who  were  sent  by  Genera!  Clinton,  with  the  most  liberal  offers  of  pay  ard  protec 
tion,  with  liberty  to  dispose  of  themselves  as  they  pleased,  were  seized  by  the  soldiers,  and  deliv 
ered  up  to  execution. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  205 

correct  as  far  as  they  go ;  but  being  deficient  in  a  few  particulars,  excited  sur-   CHAP. 
prise  at  the  supposed  want  of  self-possession  in  so  brave  a  man  as  Andre.    The  v^^^, 
British  arm/  in  New  York  was,  at  that  time,  supplied  with  beef,  principally 
through  the-  aid  of  a  class  of  men,  who  obtained  the  appellation  of  Cowboys. 
They  were  a  species  of  suttlers,  or  dealers  in  live  stock,  who,  being  well 
acquainted  with  the  roads  and  passes,  penetrated  into  the  country,  and  either 
stole  or  purchased  cattle,  which  they  secretly  drove  into  the  enemy's  lines. 
Besides  watching  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  one  principal  object  for  de 
taching  Jameison  to  that  quarter  was,  to  check  the  prosecution  of  this  trade  or 
practice.     For  this  purpose,  small  scouting  parties  were  occasionally  pushed 
beyond  the  American  posts,  to  reconnoitre  die  interjacent  country  between 
their  posts  and  those  of  the  enemy.     And  as  the  cattle  taken  from  the  Cow 
boys,  unless  stolen,  were  held  to  be  prize  of  war;  and  it  was  an  object  with 
the  well-affected  to  suppress  a  practice  which  exposed  their  stock  to  depreda 
tions,  small  volunteer  parties  occasionally  waylaid  the  roads  for  that  purpose. 
Of  this  description  were  the  captors  of  Andre;  who,  after  the  fatigue  of  prose 
cuting  their  entcrprize,  had  seated  themselves  under  this  tree,  in  a  situation 
retired  from  the  view  of  travellers  approaching  along  the  road.     It  is  said, 
they  were  engaged  in  a  game  at  cards,  when  the  tread  of  Andre's  horse 
attracted  their  notice.     The  station  they  had  taken  was  in  view  of  a  point 
where  several  roads  unite  near  the  village,  and  Andre,  who  was  visible  to  the 
party  before  they  were  visible  to  him,  was  engaged  in  examining  a  sketch  of 
the  route,  no  doubt  to  determine  which  of  the  roads  in  his  view  he  ought  to 
follow.     At  the  first  rustling  of  the  leaves  made  by  the  motion  of  the  party  in 
ambush,  he  precipitately  thrift  the  paper  he  was  examining  into  his  boot,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  his  horse  from  that  on  which  the  party  appeared.     This 
was  noticed  by  one  of  the  party,  and  led  to  the  examination  which  produced 
the  detection.     On  being  stopped,  he  resumed  his  composure,  and  exhibited 
the  pass  from  Arnold,  on  which  he  had  thus  far  succeeded  in  clearing  the 
American  posts  and  patrols ;  and  the  party  had  already  released  his  bridle, 
when  one  of  them  inquired  what  he  had  done  with  the  paper  he  was  reading? 
An  indistinct  view  of  the  dangerous  dilemma  in  which  the  question  involved 
him,  produced  in  Andre  a  momentary  hesitation;  his  embarrassment  was  no 
ticed  by  the  party,  and  made  them  resolve  again  to  detain  him.     Knowing 
that  the  pass  from  Arnold  would  not  avail  him  after  thz  discovery  of  the  con 
tents  of  his  boot,  Andrl  then  desired  them  to  tell  him  truly,  whether  they  were 
"from  above  or  below?"  and  on  their  answering  " the  latter,"  which  was 

O  ' 

consistent  with  the  truth  in  fact,  though  not  in  the  sense  he  meant  it,  which 
was  whether  they  were  whigs  or  tories;  he   acknowledged  himself  to  be  a 


206  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  British  officer  on  urgent  business,  and  begged  them  not  to  detain  him.  On 
i^-v^x  their  persisting  to  detain  him,  the  whole  extent  of  his  danger  burst  upon  him, 
and  he  liberally  tried  the  persuasive  voice  of  gold.  But  though  he  had  just 
witnessed,  that  one  in  a  much  more  elevated  rank  had  lent  a  propitious  ear 
to  similar  arguments,  he  found  these  honest  yeomen  were  not  to  be  corrupted. 
Until  then,  he  had  learned,  that  it  is  at  last  in  the  integrity  of  the  well-in 
formed  yeomanry  of  a  country  that  the  strength  and  security  of  every  free 
government  is  to  be  found.  \Vo  to  that  government  which  ever  suffers  this 
class  of  men  to  remain  in  ignorance,  or  be  exposed  to  corruption ! 

Upon  searching  the  boot  into  which  the  paper  had  been  thrust,  a  plan  of 
West  Point,  the  strength  and  disposition  of  die  garrison,  and  other  suspicious 
papers,  were  discovered ;  and  Andre  was  immediately  conveyed  to  the  head 
quarters  of  Colonel  Jamieson.  By  this  time  it  appears,  that  Andre  had  com 
pletely  recovered  his  self-possession,  if,  indeed,  he  had  ever  lost  it ;  and  he  had 
the  ingenuity  to  play  off  on  Jamieson  a  ruse  de  guerre,  to  which  the  partiality 
*  of  his  friends,  and  die  feelings  of  his  admirers  have  managed  to  give  a  cha 
racter  which  it  by  no  means  merits. 

He  prevailed  on  Jamieson  to  dispatch  a  note  to  Arnold,  informing  him  that 
John  Anderson  (this  was  Andre's  assumed  name)  was  taken.  This  has  been 
construed  into  a  magnanimous  effort  to  save  Arnold ;  whereas  it  was  obviously 
an  ingenious  artifice  to  save  himself.  And  it  must  have  succeeded,  had  not  die 
former,  instead  of  taking  the  hint  as  it  was  intended,  verifyed  by  his  conduct  the 
trite  adage,  "there  is  no  faith  among  the  dishonest,"  by  immediately  transferring 
all  his  attention  to  his  own  escape.  Arnold  could  easily  have  dispatched  an  order 
to  Jarneison  to  release  Andre,  or  have  adopted  some  fiction  or  plan  for  getting 
him  into  his  own  hands,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  him  his  liberty,  and  thus 
have  escaped  with  him.  Jamieson,  obviously  entertained  no  suspicion  of 
Arnold,  by  sending  him  this  message :  and  by  the  time  that  elapsed  before  he 
forwarded  to  General  Washington  the  papers  found  upon  Andre,  it  is  clear 
that  he  waited  for  some  communication  from  Arnold  with  regard  to  the  future 
fate  of  John  Anderson. 

It  is  curious  to  contemplate  the  good  fortune  of  this  interesting  young  man, 
in  the  favourable  views  which  writers  of  both  nations,  indeed  all  who  have 
ever  noticed  him  have  taken  of  his  conduct.  But  such  is  the  effect  of  excited 
feeling  upon  the  judgment  of  mankind,  or  perhaps,  such  the  proclivity  of  man 
to  follow  a  popular  leader,  and  to  avoid  the  perplexity  of  reflection.  The 
breathing  pen  of  Colonel  Hamilton  was  generously  employed  in  describing  the 
magnanimity  with  which  Andre  met  death;  the  direction  once  given  to  public 
opinion  has  been  followed,  "nothing  loth,"  and  every  subsequent  writer  has  vied 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  20: 

with  his  predecessor  in  representing  Andre's  conduct  in  the  most  favourable   CHAP. 
coulours.     The  stern  moralist,  who,  knowing  that  first  to  pity,  then  to  palliate,  ^^^-^ 
then  to  imitate,  is  too  often  the  course  through  which  vice  and  error  steal  on 
society,  presumes,  in  such  a  case  as  this,  to  exclaim,  "  Pause  and  reflect;"  will 
be  more  apt  to  incur  the  frowns,  than  the  plaudits  of  his  cotemporaries.     But 
there  is  a  time  of  life  when  a  writer  may  no  longer  feel  the  undue  influence  of 
popular  applause. 

Andre  has  also  been  greatly  extolled  for  his  magnanimity  in  communicating 
to  General  WasMngton  his  real  name  and  character,  by  the  express  which 
conveyed  to  the  commander  in  chief  the  papers  found  upon  him.  But  what 
else  remained  for  him  to  do  ?  His  life  was  clearly  forfeited ;  and  in  the  cha 
racter  of  John  Anderson,  he  must  have  suffered,  "  unpitied  and  unwept,"  the 
summary  and  ignominious  death  of  a  spy,  or  been  detected  as  Major  Andre, 
with  a  falsehood  on  his  lips.  His  only  chance  of  escape  was  to  declare  his 
real  character,  and  place  himself  under  the  protection  of  the  circumstances 
under  which  he  alleges  that  he  came  within  the  American  posts ;  or  perhaps, 
to  interest  the  feelings  or  the  fears  of  the  American  commander  in  his  behalf. 
His  letter  contains  one  passage  which  serves  as  a  plain  developement  of  his 
motives  in  writing  it. — It  icas  to  save  his  own  life  by  exciting  fear  for  that  of 
others.  The  passage  alluded  to  is  the  following:  "  I  take  the  liberty  to  men 
tion  the  condition  of  some  gentlemen  at  Charlestown,  who,  being  either  on 
parole  or  under  protection,  were  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  against  us;  though 
their  situation  is  not  similar,  they  are  objects  who  may  be  sent  in  exchange  for 
me,  or  persons  whom  the  treatment  I  received  might  affect." 

It  is  truly  astonishing,  that  the  ungenerous  character  of  this  paragraph  has 
never  been  properly  animadverted  upon.  Who  these  "  gentlemen  at  Charles- 
town"  were,  is  afterwards  more  explicitly  declared,  in  Arnold's  letter  to  Gene 
ral  Washington,  of  the  1st  October:  "  I  have  farther  to  observe,  that  forty  of 
the  principal  inhabitants  of  South  Carolina  have  justly  forfeited  their  lives, 
which  have  hitherto  been  spared  by  the  clemency  of  his  excellency  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  who  cannot  in  justice  extend  Ids  mercy  to  them  any  longer,  if  Major 
Andre  suffers,  which  in  all  probability  will  open  a  scene  of  blood  at  which 
humanity  will  revolt." 

Thus  it  appears  that  Andre's  hint  was  greedily  caught  at  by  Arnold ;  and 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  himself  in  his  communications,  very  plainly  hints  at  the 
same  thing. 

Yet  nothing  could  have  been  more  base  and  dishonourable  than  the  attempt 
to  save  his  forfeited  life  by  drawing  down  ruin  upon  a  number  of  innocent 
men,  who,  after  bravely  resisting  the  enemy,  had  surrendered  on  terms  that 


203  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

.CHAP,  had  been  most  dishonourably  evaded.  The  assertion  also  contained  in  An 
dre's  letter,  that  the  prisoners  alluded  to  had  engaged  in  a  conspiracy,  was 
absolutely  destitute  of  truth;  as  it  was  well  known,  that  every  individual  of 
•those  prisoners  had,  from  the  first,  courted  and  defied  investigation;  and  there 
.existed  no  cause  for  their  confinement  at  St.  Augustine,  to  which  place  they 
had  been  removed,  but  the  prevalence  of  mi  upinion  that  their  influence  kept 
others  from  accepting  of  the  king's  protection,  the  illiberal  suggestions  of  some 
of  the  loyalists  who  could  not  bear  the  reproachful  looks  of  those  whom  they 
had  deserted,  and  above  all,  the  convenience  of  retaining  such  respectable 
hostages  to  cover  such  men  as  Arnold  and  Andre. 

The  introductory  paragraph  also  to  Andre's  letter,  cannot  be  dismissed 
without  a  remark.  It  is  in  these  words. 

"  What  I  have  as  yet  said  concerning  myself,  was  in  the  justifiable  attempt 
to  be  extricated.  I  am  too  little  accustomed  to  duplicity  to  have  succeeded." 
(That  is  to  say,  I  have  hitherto  been  doing  what  no  man  who  sufficiently 
valnes  the  obligation  of  truth  would  do,  or  at  least,  expose  himself  to  the  dan 
ger  of  being  obliged  to  do,  even  for  "the  justifiable  attempt  to  be  extricated,") 
I  have  hitherto  dealt  out  notliing  but  falsehoods;  but  for  want  of  practice,  my 
firmness  fails  me." 

In  the  first  place,  this  paragraph  is  uncandid :  for  if  his  disguise  could  any 
longer  have  availed  him,  he  would  have  retained  it;  and  in  the  next  place, 
there  is  no  small  cause  to  believe,  that  this  was  not  the  first  time  in  which 
Major  Andre  had  played  off  the  practical  falsehood  of  assuming  a  disguise, 
and  acting  the  spy. 

It  is  believed  by  many,  that  in  the  character  of  a  spy  he  had  been  greatly 
instrumental  in  involving  in  captivity,  the  very  men  whom  he  now  wished  to 
involve  in  the  horrors  of  retaliation.* 


*  The  following  facts  may  be  relied  upon.  Let  them  weigh  with  the  reader  for  what  they  are 
worth. 

It  was  an  universal  belief,  as  well  in  the  British  army  as  in  the  city  of  Charleston  after  its 
fall,  that  Andre  had  been  in  the  city  in  the  character  of  a  spy,  during  the  siege.  There  is 
now  livin^  in  the  place  a  respectable  citizen,  who  acted  in  the  commissary  department  in  the 
British  army  during  and  after  the  siege;  and  another  of  equal  respectability,  and  whose  means 
of  information  were  much  greater,  who  was  in  Charleston  during  the  siege,  and  remained  in  it 
until  the  evacuation,  who  will  testify  to  the  truth  of  this  assertion.  And  this  opinion  is  corrobo 
rated  by  the  following  fact.  There  were  two  brothers  of  the  name  of  S.  S.  and  E.  S.  both  well 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  20< 

'   Let  political  expediency  disguise  it  as  it  may,  still  the  character  of  a  soldier  CHAP. 
cannot  be  blended  with  that  of  a  spy,  without  soiling  the  pure  ermine  of  the  ^^^^, 
former.     And,  however  his  sovereign  may  applaud  and  reward  the  officer  who 
tempts  his  enemy  to  treachery,  there  is  something  so  foul  in  the  constitution  of 
the  crime,  that  we  cannot  look  upon  him  who  seduces  another  to  the  commis 
sion  of  it,  but  as  the  instigator  or  propagator  of  crime.     The  breath  of  trea 
chery  gives  a  taint  to  the  reputation  of  the  man  who  but  holds  converse  with  it. 

Indeed,  there  appear  to  have  been  a  combined  attack  upon  morals  made  by 
all  the  particepes  criminis  in  this  black  transaction.  One  can  hardly  read  with 
patience  the  letters  of  Clinton,  Robertson,  and  Arnold,  boldly  insisting  that  ' 
Andre  was  not  punishable  as  a  spy,  because  he  came  witliin  the  garrison  under 
the  sanction  of  a  flag,  or  under  the  protection  of  the  commander;  although  in 
fact,  with  that  commander  he  was  concerting  measures  to  get  possession  of  the 
post  where  that  officer  commanded;  that  he  was  himsc'r innocent,  because  he 
had  prostituted  the  usual  protection  of  innocent  and  honourable  purposes  to 
the  perpetration  of  the  basest  treachery.  And  to  complete  the  ridicule  of  the 
scene,  die  chief-justice  of  the  state  is  brought  upon  the  carpet  to  support  this 
holy  doctrine. 

This  was  at  a  conference  which  was  held  by  appointment  at  King's  Ferry, 
between  General  Robertson  and  General  Greene  on  the  subject  of  Andre's 
treatment.  Robertson  brought  with  him  from  New  York,  Chief  Justice  Smith 
and  the  lieutenant  governor  to  support  him  in  the  argument;  but  whether  it 
was  that  the  man  of  the  sword  was  afraid  to  encounter  the  man  of  the  gown 
in  argument ;  Greene  would  not  suffer  Smith  to  land,  and  the  conference  re 
sulted  in  nothing  but  mutual  confirmation  in  pre-existing  opinions.  On  the 


known  as  men  of  property  and  respectable  standing  in  society.  The  former  was,  to  the  last, 
faithfully  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  country,  the  other  was  disaffected.  During  the  siege,  S.  S. 
being  taken  sick,  was  permitted  to  go  to  his  brother's  house  to  be  better  attended.  There,  he  was 
introduced  to,  and  repeatedly  saw  a  young  man,  in  a  homespun  dress,  who  was  introduced  to  him 
by  his  brother  as  a  Virginian,  connected  with  the  line  of  that  state  then  in  the  city.  After  the 
fall  of  Charleston,  S.  S.  was  introduced  to  Major  Andre,  at  his  brother's  house,  and  in  him  recog 
nized  the  person  of  the  Virginian  whom  he  had  seen  during  the  siege.  This  he  remarked  to  hi* 
brother,  who  acknowledged  that  he  was  the  same,  asserting  his  own  ignorance  of  it  at  the  time. 
S.  S.  related  these  facts  to  many  persons  in  his  lifetime,  and  his  veracity  was  unquestionable.  An 
other  citizen,  Mr.  VV.  J.,  at  the  time  of  Andre's  capture,  a  prisoner  at  St.  Augnstine,  also  saw  the 
supposed  Virginian  at  the  house  of  F,  S.  while  S.  S.  lay  sick,  and  his  recollection  of  the  fact  was 
revived  by  S.  S.  soon  after  he  had  made  the  discovery  of  his  real  character.  It  is  also  known  that 
the  life  of  E.  S.  was  afterwards  assiduously  sought  after  by  Marion's  men,  on  the  charge  of  hl- 
tteachery. 

27 


.210  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CUAP.   2d  October,  Andre  was  executed  as  a  spy  on  a  gibbet,  at  the  village  of  Tappan, 
^^s^,  where  the  principal  part  of  the  army  was  then  encamped. 

As  his  case  was  one  of  many  novel  features,  and  threats  of  retaliation  had 
loudly  resounded,  General  Washington  did  not  order  his  execution  summarily, 
as  by  the  laws  of  war  he  would  have  been  justified  to  do,  but  commanded  a 
board  of  general  officers  to  be  convened,  and  submitted  the  case  to  their  con 
sideration. 

Greene  was  appointed  to  preside,  and  Colonel  John  Laurens  was  present 
in  the  capacity  of  judge  advocate  general,  which  station  he  held  in  the  army. 
La  Fayette  and  Stuben  were  members  of  the  court;  and  if  dignity,  worth, 
and  service  can  give  weight  to  the  decision  of  a  court,  never  was  one  consti 
tuted  more  worthy  to  be  respected.  There  were  in  it  six  major  generals  and 
seven  brigadiers.  They  were  unanimously  of  opinion,  that  Andre  must  suffer 
as  a  spy.  But  such  was  the  imposing  appearance  of  this  interesting  young 
man,  that  amidst  all  die  trials  these  great  men  had  undergone,  none  bore  so 
heavily  on  their  sensibility  as  this.  And  it  is  related  of  Greene,  that,  so  excited 
were  his  feelings  when  the  report  was  drawn  up  by  Laurens  and  handed  to 
him  to  sign,  the  pen  shook  in  the  hand  of  the  veteran,  and  in  vain  was  his 
head  bent  low  over  the  paper  to  hide  "  the  starting  tear."  The  sheet  that  bore 
the  death  wairant  of  Andre,  bore  also  the  evidence  that  it  had  not  been  dic 
tated  by  insensible  hearts.  Indeed,  it  is  said,  that  this  sensibility  was  so  conta 
gious,  the  whole  court  shed  tears  on  signing  the  report. 

Andre  died  like  a  brave  man,  but  expressed  much  regret  at  the  mode  in 
which  the  laws  of  war  prescribed  that  he  should  suffer.  He  addressed  a  very 
pathetic  letter  to  the  commander  in  chief,  soliciting  the  consolation  of  dying  in 
a  more  soldierly  manner ;  but,  with  a  painful  effort,  though  commendable  firm 
ness,  it  was  resisted. 

It  has  been  said,  that  General  Greene's  opposition  alone  prevented  General 
Washington  from  complying,  and  a  speech  has  been  made  for  him  on  the 
occasion;  but  we  can  find  no  evidence  of  such  a  fact;  and  General  Washing 
ton's  firmness  is  too  known  to  admit  the  belief,  that  he  acted  from  any  other 
influence  than  his  own  sense  of  propriety. 

The  hour  was  now  approaching  which  was  to  remove  General  Greene  from 
the  scenes  in  which  he  has  hitherto  been  acting,  to  a  command  which  gave  to 
his  genius  and  talents  a  more  adequate  scope  for  employment.  On  the  6th  of 
October,  General  Washington  addressed  a  letter  to  him,  to  know  if  it  would 
be  agreeable  to  him  to  take  command  of  the  detachment  at  West  Point,  and 
of  die  military  operations  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  He  did  not  hesitate  to 
comply,  and  on  the  8th  we  find  him  in  command  at  diat  post.  Of  die  state  in 


MAJOR  GENERAL  .GREENE.  211 

which  he  found  things  at  West  Point,  the  following  brief  extract  of  a  letter  to  a  CHAP. 
friend,  dated  the  llth,  will  show  both  the  fact,  the  cause,  and  his  feelings  with  s^v^r 
regard  to  it:  "  Was  there  ever  such  a  devil  as  General  Arnold?    What  confu- 
fusion  he  has  thrown  every  thing  into !     This  post  has  been  shamefully  neg 
lected  ;  but  the  mystery  is  now  all  out."     And  of  the  efforts  which  he  made 
to  put  it  in  a  state  of  defence,  commensurate  to  its  importance  and  the  detected 
views  of  the  enemy  against  it,  the  best  evidence  lies  in  the  many  letters  in 
stantly  written  to  summon  to  his  aid  all  the  means  necessary  to  hasten  the 
indispensable  works. 

Nor  did  this  object  occupy  his  undivided  attention.  It  appears  that  not  a 
day  passed,  in  which  he  had  not  to  answer  the  letters  of  General  Washington, 
on  some  weighty  and  important  subject.  Their  present  separation  drew  forth 
that  communication  by  letter  which  usually  had  taken  place  in  personal  confer 
ences.  And  this  correspondence  contains  the  most  unequivocal  proof  of  the 
unlimited  confidence  reposed  in  General  Greene  by  the  commander  in  chief; 
of  the  respect  in  which  he  held  Greene's  judgment  and  talents,  and  the  various 
purposes  to  which  he  applied  them. 

Thus  at  one  time  he  is  called  upon  to  make  a  full  estimate  of  all  the  expenses 
for  a  year  attendant  upon  an  establishment  of  32,000  men.  At  another,  to 
sum  up  the  whole  annual  expense  incident  to  the  war,  to  give  a  view  of  the 
sums  paid  by  each  state  towards  it,  and  their  capacity  to  continue  or  increase 
their  present  contributions.  At  another,  to  consider  the  expediency  of  prose 
cuting  the  plans  of  the  campaign  hitherto  pursued,  or  what  changes  shall  be 
adopted  upon  the  various  contingencies  which  might  occur.  They  are  the 
communications  of  a  great  and  good  man  to  a  zealous,  faithful  premier,  whose 
integrity  and  disinterestedness  he  has  proved,  and  whose  candour  and  judg 
ment  he  has  the  highest  respect  for. 

The  answers  to  these  various  communications  present  a  most  appalling  view 
of  the  embarrassment  which  then  pressed  upon  the  commander  in  chief.  It  is 
truly  wonderful  that  he,  and  every  officer  of  merit  in  the  army,  had  not 
thrown  up  their  commissions  in  disgust  and  despair.  But  a  vow  to  save  their 
country  was  upon  them,  and  every  selfish  feeling  had  long  since  been  expelled 
or  subdued. 

Man  too  soon  forgets  the  lessons  that  are  forced  upon  him  in  adversity.  His 
own  folly  has  generally  too  great  an  influence  in  producing  them,  to  admit  of 
their  being  received  with  cheerfulness,  or  stored  with  a  view  to  reformation. 
In  our  late  contest  with  Great  Britain,  the  grave  experience  of  the  revolution 
appears  to  have  been  very  much  forgotten  or  rejected.  Short  enlistments  and 
military  requisition  brought  us  then,  to  the  very  brink  of  subjugation :  and  the 


212  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  same  causes  have,  in  a  more  recent  instance,  been  conspiculously  instrumental 
involving  us  in  debt,  and  threatening  us  with  disgrace.  Heaven  sent  us  a 
few  brave  men  to  snatch  us  from  impending  danger;  and  the  redeeming  spirit 
of  a  people  who  adore  their  liberty,  sustained  the  government  through  a  war 
in  which  the  experience  of  the  revolution  was,  for  a  long  time,  rejected.  Many 
difficulties  pressed  upon  die  congress  of  the  revolution,  which  could  palliate  in 
them  die  adoption  of  feeble  or  temporizing  measures ;  but  die  government,  in 
the  late  war,  had  the  command  of  resources  which  ought  to  have  saved  them 
from  falling  into  die  imbecile  measures  of  die  times  of  wliich  we  are  now 


*o 


writing. 


It  is,  indeed,  wonderful  that  any  administration  should,  at  the  commence 
ment  of  a  war,  enlist  for  any  other  period  than  the  duration  of  the  war.  To 
enlist  for  a  shorter  term,  is  to  hold  out  an  inducement  to  your  enemy  to  protract 
the  war  beyond  diat  term.  And  the  same  infatuation  that  might  seduce  the 
government  to  believe  that  the  war  will  be  of  short  duration,  will  tempt  the 
soldier  to  enlist  at  its  commencement  for  the  period  of  its  duration.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  men  who  have  once  become  soldiers,  will  always 
afterward  readily  enlist.  This  is  die  case  only  with  the  most  worthless.  Those 
of  a  superior  description,  leave  the  service  resolved  afterwards  rather  to  try 
any  other  pursuit  in  life.  It  is  only  when  men  of  this  description  have  ad 
vanced  to  a  time  of  life,  or  length  of  service,  which  makes  them  incapable  of 
succeeding  in  any  other  pursuit,  that,  in  despir,  they  devote  themselves  to  the 
hardships,  privations  and  exposure  of  a  camp.  Others  may  be  influenced  by 
an  attachment  to  the  vices  or  indolence  of  a  military  life;  but  to  fill  an  army 
with  such  materials,  is  to  compose  it  of  drunkards  and  deserters. 

One  thing  experience  will  ever  verify, — that  enlisting  and  militia  requisitions 
can  never  go  on  together;  they  arc  essentially  rival  means  of  forming  an  armyr 
especially  if  substitutes  be  received  in  militia  sen-ice;  for  to  serve  as  substitutes 
then  becomes  a  metier,  a  calling  in  life,  and  takes  off  every  individual  of  that 
class  of  society  which  furnishes  the  materials  for  a  regular  army.  And  even 
where  substitutes  are  not  received,  that  class  of  men  find  more  agreeable  and 
more  profitable  employment  in  the  service  of  the  militiaman  who  is  compelled 
to  leave  his  home ;  or  in  the  various  services  to  wliich  such  men  are  requisite 
in  the  commissar}-,  quarter-master,  or  other  departments  essential  to  the  move 
ments  of  an  army,  and  which,  with  regard  to  the  militia,  are  generally  greatly 

multiplied. 

To  doubt  the  importance  of  militia  to  our  national  security,  or  to  detract 
from  its  efficiency  in  desultory  warfare,  would  be  the  height  of  folly.  It  is  the 
rock  of  refuse  to  wliich  all  must  look  for  defence  in  die  last  resort.  But,  like 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  W 

the  reserve  of  an  army,  it  is  too  important  to  the  security  of  all,  to  be  exposed  CHAP. 
to  the  brunt  of  the  battle;  and  the  materials  which  compose  it  are  too  precious  v^^^. 
to  be  unnecessarily  exposed  to  the  devastations  of  war,  and  the  diseases  and 
habits  of  camps.  Then;  time  is  the  wealth  of  the  country ;  the  labour  of  the 
husbandman  may  be  well  employed  in  raising  the  products  of  the  earth  to  sup 
ply  the  necessities  of  an  army,  and  of  the  artificer,  in  preparing  the  innumerable 
munitions  of  war  necessary  to  give  efficiency  to  the  courage  and  discipline  of 
the  soldier.  Yet  it  is  a  truth  which  ought  never  to  be  forgotten,  that  every 
individual  is  the  most  trust- worthy  depository  of  his  own  freedom ;  and  the 
nation  which  has  forgotten  die  use  of  arms,  and  habitually  entrusted  die  care 
of  its  defence  to  a  mercenary  army,  invites  attack  both  from  within  and  with 
out  Hence,  the  militia  ought  to  be  organized,  armed,  and  trained  to  military 
sendee.  And  for  sudden  emergencies,  the  country  that  does  not  prepare  them 
to  meet  an  enemy,  or  enforce  the  execution  of  its  laws,  must  have  recourse  to  a 
burdensome  and  dangerous  permanent  army. 

But,  for  the  more  serious  operations  of  protracted  warfare,  they  are  wholly 
unfit  It  is  impossible  to  bring  them  to  submit  to  that  severe  discipline,  with 
out  which  an  army  is  but  a  "  rope  of  sand ;"  or  to  remain  a  sufficient  time  in 
camp  to  be  inured  to  the  hardships  of  a  military  life.  Disease  and  discontent 
are  the  ordinary  concomitants  of  a  raw  soldiery;  and  scarcely  do  they  pass 
through  die  trials  necessary  to  prepare  them  for  service,  before  those  who 
escape  are  withdrawn  to  give  place  to  others, — among  whom  death  and  disease 
must  recommence  their  ravages. 

In  point  of  economy,  militia  only  claim  preference  as  the  substitute  for  a 
standing  army;  in  all  other  respects,  it  is  incomparably  the  most  expensive- 
force  that  can  be  employed. 

From  its  known  incompetency  to  cope  with  an  enemy  that  uses  regular 
troops,  a  much  greater  numerical  force  must  always  be  called  into  the  field; 
and  from  the  frequent  changes  that  take  place  on  the  expiration  of  a  term  of 
service  ;  during  the  greater  part  of  the  time  a  double  complement  must  be  kept 
on  foot,  and  half  the  year  consumed  in  marching  and  countermarching  be 
tween  the  place  of  rendezvous  and  the  scene  of  military  operations. 

If  the  militia  receive  pay  and  rations,  therefore,  the  expense  is  at  least  dou 
bled  ;  but  the  duplicate  of  the  cost  of  maintaining  a  regular  army  is  but  a 
small  estimate  of  the  actual  difference.  Setting  aside  the  positive  loss  which 
the  community  sustains  in  withdrawing  useful  men  from  their  ordinary  occu 
pations,  it  has  always  been  observed  that  there  is  an  improvidence  in  the  habits 
of  militia  which  produces  a  waste  of  the  provisions  and  munitions  of  war,  of 
which  regular  troops  may  be  broken,  but  militia  never  can.  Besides  which, 


_ 

•'  • 


« 

214  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  there  is  a  positive  expense  attending  the  movements  of  militia,  which  is  inci- 
x^-^^,  dent  to  a  regular  army,  only  in  a  much  less  degree.  Every  individual  is  more 
or  less  supplied  with  the  means  of  purchasing  from  his  private  funds,  and  thin 
raises  the  price  of  articles  of  necessity  wherever  the  troops  arrive  or  are  ex 
pected.  During  die  revolutionary  war,  (and  partially  it  will  always  be  the 
case,)  they  could  seldom  be  brought  from  their  homes  without  being  provided 
with  horses,  and  hence,  in  their  advance  through  a  country,  they  seldom  left 
provision  enough  on  the  route  they  followed,  to  maintain  them  on  their  return. 
It  was  universally  complained  of,  that  after  calling  out  the  militia,  the  difficulty 
of  supporting  the  regular  army  became  greatly  increased. 

It  is  probable,  that  upon  a  fair  estimate  of  every  expense,  the  most  econo 
mical  measures  would  ever  be  to  enlist  an  army  for  the  war.  Many  objections 
to  the  use  of  militia  operate  with  equal  force  against  short  enlistments  of  regu 
lar  troops.  And  when  it  is  recollected  hereafter,  that  the  American  forces 
were,  in  the  course  of  both  our  wrars,  often  placed  in  the  most  critical  circum 
stances,  and  arrested  or  cramped  in  their  most  important  operations,  by  the 
necessity  of  discharging  one  body  of  men  and  drawing  together  another,  the 
•  American  people  ought  ever  to  bear  solemnly  in  mind  the  reiterated  warnings 
of  Washington  and  Greene  on  diis  subject.  Many  causes  exist  to  facilitate 
enlistments  at  the  commencement  of  a  war,  which  disappear  in  the  course  of 
it.  Many  a  gay  vision  of  glory,  riches,  and  preferment  that  imagination  then 
V  conjures  up,  vanishes  before  the  sober  realities  of  experience,  of  toils,  of  suffer 
ings,  and  of  wounds.  "  The  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war"  soon 
loses  the  fascination  of  novelty,  and  the  answer  which  inquiry  draws  forth 
from  those  who  have  served,  will  seldom  be  calculated  to  tempt  their  friends 
or  relations  into  the  galling  restraints  of  military  discipline.  The  experience 
of  two  wars  will  conclusively  support  the  truth  of  these  observations;  and 
had  those  contests  been  much  longer  protracted,  our  ranks  could  only  have 
been  filled  by  conscription.  This  method  would,  indeed,  have  made  our  arms 
terrible ;  for  in  every  point  of  view,  it  is  unquestionably  the  best  mode  of  form 
ing  an  army.  It  is  rapid,  it  furnishes  the  best  of  materials,  and  no  danger  is 
to  be  apprehended  from  it  when  thus  composed,  whether  in  keeping  it  together 
or  in  disbanding  it.  It  would  seem  as  if  our  enemy  had  made  peace  with  us 
in  both  wars,  just  when  the  idea  of  adpting  this  mode  began  to  become  popular. 
But  how  far  the  genius,  the  easy  life  and  free  habits  of  our  citizens  can  be 
reconciled  to  the  sacrifice,  is  a  question  not  easily  solved. 

There  are  also  many  difficulties  of  the  most  serious  nature  attending  the 
blending  of  regular  troops  and  militia  in  the  same  service.  They  never  har 
monize  wrell  together.  The  regular  soldier  despises  the  militiaman  for  his 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  £15 

* 

his  want  of  discipline,  impatience  of  the  hardships  and  privations  of  a  camp,  CHAP, 
and  inferior  dependence  placed  in  him  when  exposed  to  the  tug  of  war.  And  s^-v^^ 
this  is  repaid  tenfold  by  the  miltiaman,  upon  the  mercenary  engagement  of  the 
regular  soldier,  his  poverty,  dependence,  and  subjection  to  servile  punishment 
and  occupations.  Besides  wliich,  the  militiaman  knows,  and  the  general  who 
commands,  feels,  that  it  is  his  duty  to  husband  his  best  troops,  and  place  the 
militiaman  hi  die  most  exposed,  though  least  essential  stations  in  battle.  The 
militiaman  is  placed  in  the  van,  while  the  regular  force  forms  the  rear  line  or 
the  reserve.  Disagreeable  as  it  is  to  the  commander,  and  much  as  it  exposes 
him  to  censure  thus  to  expose  the  lives  of  valuable  citizens,  the  safety  of  the 
whole  exacts  this  duty  of  him.  Hence,  both  the  militiaman  and  his  com 
mander  are  reluctant  at  serving  in  camp  with  the  regulars ;  and  hi  time  of 
action,  thinking  themselves  unreasonably  and  unjustly  exposed,  they  are  the 
less  ashamed  of  deserting  the  post  assigned  them,  and  too  often  do  notliing 
more  than  carry  confusion  into  the  ranks, — which  they  increase  numerically, 
but  weaken  morally.  In  the  hour  of  battle  they  have  seldom  been  of  essen 
tial  benefit  to  an  army,  and  perhaps  never  but  when  used  in  light,  active, 
desultory  service,  as  expert  horsemen,  or  under  cover,  as  destructive  marksmen. 
At  the  period  we  are  now  speaking  of,  the  service  was  sinking  under  the  joint 
weight  of  both  short  enlistments  and  militia  requisitions. 

The  Marquis  La  Fayette  had,  during  the  preceding  summer,  returned  from 
France.  That  nobleman,  whose  ardent  zeal  in  their  cause  ought  ever  to  call 
forth  the  warmest  gratitude  of  every  American,  had  privately  paid  a  visit  to 
France,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  promoting  the  cause  he  had  espoused.  Some 
fear  was  entertained,  that  unfovourable  results  might  proceed  from  the  fracas 
which  occurred  at  Rhode  Island,  ^and  he  had  seen  and  felt  the  mortifying 
embarrassments  which  environed  the  active  promoters  of  the  revolution,  from 
a  combination  of  causes  which  could  be  best  explained  in  personal  and  rcite- 
1  rated  interviews  with  those  who  directed  the  policy  of  the  French  cabinet. 
His  success  was  equal  to  the  noble  motives  that  influenced  bis  conduct.  He 
suddenly  made  his  appearance  in  the  American  army,  before  it  was  even 
generally  known  that  he  had  left  the  country;  and  brought  with  him  the 
welcome  tidings,  that  large  reinforcements  were  immediately  to  be  forwarded 
to  the  French  army  and  navy.  The  time  when  they  might  be  expected  was 
designated,  and  as  it  was  expected  that  the  naval  reinforcement  would  be  suf 
ficient  to  give  the  allies  the  command  of  the  ocean,  the  states  were  pressingly 
called  upon  for  such  supplies  of  men  and  money  as  would  enable  the  American 
army  to  co-operate  with  efficiency  in  the  proposed  attack  on  New  York. 


216  .       .  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.       In  September,  it  will  be  recollected,  the  appalling  news  arrived  that  the 

N^V^,  French  fleet  was  closely  blocked  up  in  port  by  a  superior  British  force,  and  the 

.expedition  against  New  York  was  reluctantly  abandoned.     The  militia  were 

of  course  dismissed,  and  the  term  of  enlistment  of  a  large  proportion  of  the 

other  troops  soon  expired.     The  continent  seemed  exhausted  by  the  effort 

that  had  been  made:  and  the  American  army  was  again  reduced  to  a  handful. 

When  the  unfortunate  news  of  Gates'  defeat  arrived,  its  effect  was  not,  most 

happily,  to  produce  despondency,  but  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  nation  to  die 

.  dangers  which  threatened  it.  This  was  soon  followed  by  the  detection  of 
Arnold's  plot,  and  the  continent  seemed  once  more  aroused  from  a  lethargy. 

"  From  the  commencement  of  the  war,  the  people  and  the  congress  had  fondly 
indulged  an  expectation  of  peace  from  year  to  year,  which  had  always  para- 
lized  their  efforts;  but  when  France,  and  then  Spain,  and  then  several  other 
European  powers  embarked  in  the  contest,  there  had  prevailed  too  much 
of  a  temper  to  resign  all  the  cares  and  glories  of  the  war  to  other  hands.  The 
necessity  of  doing  still  something  for  themselves  now  broke  upon  the  public 
mind,  and  the  occasion  was  improved  by  the  wise  and  spirited  part  of  the 
nation. 

In  tliis  effort  none  were  more  conspicuous  than  the  commander  in  chief  and 
the  subject  of  these  pages.  Many  of  the  letters  of  the  former  are  in  possession 
of  the  public.  Those  of  the  latter,  (and  he  had  at  this  time  many  correspond 
ents  among  the  most  enlightened  and  influential  men  in  the  United  States,) 
breathe  the  same  spirit,  and  inculcate  the  same  doctrines  with  those  of  his 
exalted  friend  and  commander.  With  equal  skill  and  truth  he  presses  the 
reflection,  "  that  a  decree  from  heaven  had  gone  forth  in  our  favour ;  for  the 
arm  of  providence  had  been  made  bare  in  tfie  late  affair  with  Arnold,  as  well 
as  in  raising  up  powerful  friends  and  allies  in  our  behalf  whenever  we  began  to 
sink  under  difficulties.  But  it  is  not  in  the  order  of  providence  for  man  to 
expect  more,  than  the  smiles  of  heaven  upon  his  own  exertions.  That  it  was 
not  to  be  expected  even  of  our  allies,  to  continue,  much  less  increase  their 
efforts,  if  we  relax  in  ours;  nor  was  it  altogether  certain,  that  if  we  remained 
in  such  a  state  of  feebleness  as  would  impose  the  whole  burden,  and  bestow 
the  whole  eclat  of  achieving  our  independence  upon  our  ally,  that  the  idea 
might  not  be  excited  of  exacting,  or  imposing  upon  us  terms,  that  were  seriously 
to  be  deprecated.  National  honour  had  not  always  been  proof  against  elevated 
notions  of  obligations  conferred  by  one  nation  on  another,  especially  where 
weakness  invited  encroachment  Sound  policy,  in  every  point  of  view,  re 
quired  the  most  active  exertion  on  our  part.  The  people  were  getting  tired  of 


. 

* 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  '      21? 

tlie  war,  the  allies  might  get  tired  of  it,  or  dissensions  arise  or  be  sown  among  CHAP. 
them  that  would  induce  them  to  abandon  us.     He  then  presses  upon  them  the  ^^J~+,, 
expense,  the  feebleness,  the  embarrassments  that  have  grown  out  of  the  means 
hitherto  adopted  for  military  defence ;  and  finally  concludes,  that  if  their  trea- 
sures  be  all  exhausted,  the  object  for  which  they  arc  contending  is  worthy  of 
-resorting  to  actual  conscription  and  contributions  in  kind.     Whilst  any  means 
remained,  the  thought  of  abandoning  the  contest  was  unworthy  of  man." 

The  time  consumed  in  this  private  correspondence,  although  it  might  be 
considered  as  employed  in  public  service,  was  never  detracted  from  public 
duty.  General  Greene's  habits  of  early  rising  and  close  application  to  busi 
ness  were  never  relinquished ;  and  hence,  with  facility  he  went  through  t\. 
multiplicity  of  business,  without  suffering  one  duty  to  jostle  against  another,  or 
being  obliged  to  encumber  the  present  hour  with  the  duties  of  the  past.  His- 
private  correspondence  was  the  last  that  occupied  his  attention,  and  in  one  of 
his  letters  to  a  friend  he  complains  that  "  his  fingers  ache,  for  he  has  just  fin 
ished  his  thirty-second  letter  on  business."  The  relief  afforded  him  in  the 
quarter-master-general's  department  was  very  trilling ;  on  his  aids  the  severity 
of  the  duty  of  copying  principally  fell,  and  the  number  of  letters  written,  and 
even  copied  in  his  own  hand,  is  truly  astonishing.  Yet  he  always  found  time 
for  reading,  and  whatever  was  the  lateness  of  the  hour  employed  in  public 
duty,  he  never  failed  to  read  for  an  hour  before  he  would  suffer  sleep  to  steal 
upon  him.  Books  uniformly  constituted  a  part  of  his  camp  equipage,  and 
though  he  had  not  a  box  set  with  diamonds  to  place  his  Homer  and  his 
Plutarch  in,  he  was  seldom  without  translations  of  those  authors  in  his  retinue. 
But  this  was  rather  recreation,  and  the  indulgence  of  taste  than  serious  study. 
Books  on  the  art  to  which  he  had  devoted  himself,  engaged  the  greatest  part 
of  his  studious  hours. 

The  appointment  of  General  Gates  to  the  command  of  the  southern  depart 
ment  was  made,  as  has  been  noticed,  by  vote  of  congress.  Had  the  appoint 
ment  of  a  successor  to  General  Lincoln,  who  was  then  a  prisoner,  been  confided 
to  General  Washington,  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  him  to  General 
Greene  will  show  on  whom  the  command  would  have  devolved:  ;'  I  am  sorry 
for  the  difficulties  you  have  to  encounter  in  the  department  of  quarter-master, 
especially  as  I  have  been  instrumental,  in  some  degree,  in  bringing  you  into  ir. 
Under  these  circumstances  I  cannot  undertake  to  give  advice,  or  even  to 
hazard  an  opinion  on  the  measures  best  for  you  to  adopt.  Your  judgment 
must  direct  you; — if  it  points  to  a  resignation  of  your  present  office,  and  your 
inclination  leads  you  to  the  southward,  my  wish  shall  accompany  it;  and  if 
the  appointment  of  a  successor  to  General  Lincoln  is  left  to  me,  I  shall  not 

28 


218  ,        *         MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

• 

CHAP,  hesitate  in  preferring  you  to  this  command ;  but  I  have  little  expectation  of 
^^^  being  consulted  on  the  occasion. 

"  With  truth  and  sincerity,  yours,"  &c. 

Washington  was  not  consulted  on  that  occasion.     Gates'  star  was  then  in 
the  ascendant,  and  its  brilliancy  had  thrown  even  Washington's  into  shade. 
It  is  impossible  to  avoid  indulging  conjecture  on  such  an  occurrence;  nor 
.  would  it  be  presumptuous  to  assert,  that  the  country  was  made,  on  this  occa 
sion,  to  feel  the  effects  of  ungenerous  distrust,  and  unwise  encroachment,  with 
regard  to  the  judgment  arid  powers  of  the  commander  in  chief.     Congress 
appears,  however,  to  have  become  sensible  of  the  impropriety  committed  in 
that  instance ;  to  have  distrusted  their  own  judgment  for  the  future  ;  and  will- 
%ing  to  make  atonement  to  the  feelings  of  Washington,  when  a  successor  to 
Gates  was  to  be  appointed. 

The  unfortunate  affair  of  the  16th  of  August  1780,  one  of  the  most  unalloyed 
calamities  of  the  revolutionary  war,  had  produced  such  an  excitement  in  the 
public  feeling,  as  to  require  of  congress  an  investigation  into  the  conduct  of 
General  Gates.  A  resolution  for  that  purpose  passed  in  congress  on  the  5th  of 
October,  and  it  was  accompanied  with  a  resolution,  authorizing  the  com 
mander  in  chief  to  nominate  a  successor  to  General  Gates,  in  the  southern 
military  department.  These  resolutions  produced  the  following  communica 
tion  from  General  Washington. 


"HEAD  QUARTERS,  PASAIC  FALLS,  October  Hth,  1780. 
'**  DEAR  SIR, 

"* 

"  By  a  letter  received  yesterday  afternoon  from  his  excellency  the  presi 
dent  of  congress,  of  the  6th  inst.  enclosing  the  copy  of  a  resolution  of  the  pre 
ceding  day,  I  find  it  has  been  their  pleasure  to  direct  me  to  order  a  court  of 
inquiry  to  be  held  on  the  conduct  of  Major  General  Gates,  as  commander  of 
the  southern  army ;  and  also  to  direct  me  to  appoint  an  officer  to  command 
it  in  his  room,  until  the  inquiry  is  made.  As  the  congress  have  been  pleased  to 
kave  the  officer  to  command  on  this  occasion,  to  my  choice,  it  is  my  wish  to 
appoint  you ;  and  from  the  pressing  situation  of  affairs  in  that  quarter,  of  which 
you  are  not  unapprized,  that  you  should  arrive  there  as  soon  as  circumstances 
will  possibly  admit. 

"  Besides  my  own  inclinations  to  this  choice,  I  have  die  satisfaction  to  inform 
you,  that  from  a  letter  I  have  received,  it  concurs  with  the  wishes  of  the  dele- 
gales  of  the  three  southern  ssates  most  immediately  interested  in  the  present 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  219 

operations  of  the  enemy.     And  I  have  no  doubt  it  will  be  perfectly  agreeable   CHAP. 
to  the  sentiments  of  the  whole.     Your  ulterior  instructions  will  be  prepared  v^r-v-^.. 
•when  you  arrive  here. 

"  I  have  only  to  add,  that  I  wish  your  earliest  arrival,  that  there  may  be  no 
circumstances  to  retard  your  proceeding  to  the  southward,  and  that  the  com^ 
mand  may  be  attended  with  the  most  interesting  good  consequences  to  the 
states,  and  the  highest  honour  to  yourself. 

**  With  great  regard  and  esteem,  &c. 

» 

"  P.  S.  You  will  bear  in  mind  the  estimates.  I  wish  to  receive  them  as  soon 
as  possible,  as  I  expect  the  return  of  the  minister,  and  would  willingly  have 
them  for  consideration,  some  time  before,"  &c. 

Various  letters  previously  written  to  General  Greene  from  his  friends  in 
Philadelphia,  had  prepared  him  for  the  reception  of  this  from  General  Wash 
ington.  Mr.  John  Mathews,  one  of  the  delegates  from  South  Carolina,  had 
intimated  to  him  the  wishes  of  the  southern  delegation,  with  a  friendly  expres 
sion  of  a  hope  that  he  would  not  decline  serving ;  and  members  of  congress 
from  various  quarters  appear  to  have  cast  their  eyes  upon  him  as  the  com 
mander  to  whom  the  country  looked  to  restore  the  shattered  fortunes  of  the 
southern  army.  We  have  much  correspondence  on  this  subject;  but  will 
confine  ourselves  to  that  which  passed  between  himself  and  the  commander  in 
chief  on  the  occasion,  with  a  view  to  show  how  these  great  men  thought  and 
acted  towards  each  other  and  their  countrv. 


General  Greene  to  General  Washington. 

"WEST  POINT,  October  16th,  1730. 

"SlR, 

"Your  excellency's  letter  of  the  14th,  appointing  me  to  the  command  of 
the  southern  army,  was  delivered  to  me  last  evening.  I  beg  your  excellency 
to  be  persuaded  that  I  am  fully  sensible  of  the  honour  you  do  me,  and  will 
endeavour  to  manifest  my  gratitude  by  a  conduct  that  will  not  disgrace  the 
appointment.  I  only  lament  that  my  abilities  are  not  more  competent  to  the 
trust,  and  that  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  be  as  extensively  useful  as  my 
inclination  leads  me  to  wish.  But  so  far  as  my  zeal  and  attention  can  supply 
the  defect,  I  flatter  myself  my  country  will  have  no  cause  to  complain. 


220  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  «« I  foresee  the  command  will  be  accompanied  with  innumerable  embarrass- 
-ments;  but  the  generous  support  I  expect  from  the  partiality  of  the  southern 
gentlemen,  as  well  as  the  aid  and  assistance  I  flatter  myself  I  shall  receive 
from  your  excellency's  advice,  afford  me  some  consolation  in  contemplating 
these  difficulties. 

1  •.  "  I  will  prepare  myself  for  the  command  as  soon  as  I  can ;  but  as  I  have 
*  been  upwards  of  five  years  in  service,  during  all  which  time  I  have  paid  no 
r attention  to  the  settlement  of  my  domestic  concerns;  and  many  divisions  of 
interest,  and  partitions  of  landed  property  have  taken  place  in  the  time  between 
me  and  my  brothers,  and  now  lie  unfinished,  I  wish  it  was  possible  for  me  to 
spend  a  few  days  at  home  before  I  set  out  for  the  southward ;  especially  as  it  is 
altogether  uncertain  how  long  my  command  may  continue,  and  what  deaths 
or  accidents  may  happen  during  my  absence.  I  beg  your  excellency's  opinion 
upon  the  matter,  and  will  regulate  my  conduct  accordingly.  However,  it  will 
not  be  possible  for  me  to  set  out  under  five  days  from  this  place,  if  I  put  my 
baggage  and  business  under  the  least  degree  of  regulation ;  nor  is  my  state  of 
health  in  a  condition  to  set  off  immediately,  having  had  a  considerable  fever 
.  upon  me  for  several  days.  General  Heath  arrived  last  night,  and  will  take 
command  this  morning.  I  will  make  him  fully  acquainted  with  all  the  orders 
and  steps  I  have  taken  which  concerns  his  command.  And  will  give  him  my 
opinion  what  is  necessary  further  to  be  done  for  carrying  into  effect  your  excel 
lency's  intentions,  and  putting  the  garrison  into  a  proper  state  of  defence*  as 
well  as  to  prepare  for  the  ensuing  winter. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,"  &c. 


General  Washington  to  General  Greene. 

i 

"  HEAD  QUARTERS,  October  18th,  1780. 
""  DEAR  SIR, 

"  Your  letter  of  the  16th  was  delivered  me  an  hour  since.  I  am  aware 
that  the  command  you  are  entering  upon  will  be  attended  with  peculiar  diffi- 
culties  and  embarrassments ;  but  the  confidence  I  have  in  your  abilities,  which 
determined  me  to  choose  you  for  it,  assures  me  you  will  do  every  thing  the- 
means  in  your  power  will  permit,  to  surmount  them,  and  stop  the  progress  of 
the  evils,  which  have  befallen,  and  still  menace  the  southern  states.  You  may 
depend  on  all  the  support  I  can  give  you,  from  the  double  motives  of  regard  to 
you  personally,  and  for  the  public  good. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  221 

r  **  I  wish  circumstances  could  be  made  to  correspond  to  your  wishes  to  spend  CHAP. 
a  little  time  at  home  previous  to  your  setting  out ;  but  your  presence  with  your  ^r^-^, 
command  as  soon  as  possible  is  indispensable.     The  embarkation  at  New  York 
sailed  the  16th,  in  all  probability  destined  to  co-operate  with  Cormvallis,  who, 
by  the  last  advices,  had  advanced  as  far  as  Charlotte.     I  hope  to  see  you 
without  delay,  and  that  your  health  will  be  no  obstacle  to  your  commencing 
your  journey. 

"  With  the  sincerest  regard,  I  am,"  &c. 


General  Greene  to  General  Washington. 

"WEST  POINT,  October  19th,  1780. 

«SlR, 

"Your  excellency's  favour  of  the  18th  was  delivered  me  this  afternoon. 
I  had  given  up  the  thought  of  going  home,  before  the  receipt  of  your  letter, 
even  if  I  could  have  been  indulged  with  your  permission.  My  affairs  required 
it,  but  I  was  afraid  it  would  take  up  too  much  time,  considering  the  critical 
state  of  affairs  to  the  southward.  The  day  that  I  marched  from  Tappan,  (7th) 
I  wrote  for  Mrs.  Greene/and  expect  her  here  every  hour.  When  I  wrote  for 
liberty  to  go  home,  it  was  my  intention  to  have  stopped  her  on  the  road ;  but  if 
I  should  set  out  before  her  arrival,  the  disappointment,  added  to  the  shock  of 
my  going  to  the  southward,  I  fear  will  have  some  very  disagreeable  effect  upon 
her,  health,  especially  as  her  apprehensions  upon  the  subject  were  very  lively, 
even  before  there  was  a  probability  of  my  going. 

"  I  see  the  necessity  for  setting  out,  and  feel  the  necessity  for  staying.  I 
must  beg  your  excellency's  indulgence  for  one  day  longer,  after  which,  if  Mrs. 
Greene  don't  arrive,  I  shall  immediately  set  out  for  head  quarters.  My 
baggage  sets  off  to-morrow,  if  I  am  not  disappointed  in  getting  horses, 
which  Colonel  Hughes  promises  me  I  shall  not  be.  Nothing  shall  detain -me 
longer  than  a  couple  of  days  from  head  quarters,  unless  I  am  very  unwell  in 
deed. 

"  I  thank  your  excellency  for  the  double  assurance  you  give  me  of  support, " 
and  long  to  be  upon  my  journey  to  meet  Lord  Cornwallis,  before  he  advances 
too  far  bito  the  heart  of  North  Carolina. 

"•  I  have  the  honour  to  be,"  &c. 

This  promise  was  punctually  complied  with.  Neither  the  fever  that  hung 
upon  him,  the  hourly  expected  arrival  of  a  beloved  and  long  absent  consort,  the 

& 

':       9 


222  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  demands  of  his  private  concerns,  nor,  above  all,  the  endearments  of  children 
k-^v^v^  whom  he  had  never  seen  hut  once,  and  whom  he  tenderly  loved,  detained  him 
a  day  longer  from  his  duty.  On  the  18th  he  entered  upon  a  journey  of  seven 
hundred  miles,  on  an  expedition  full  of  dangers  and  difficulties,  and  on  an 
indefinable  absence  from  a  home  which  he  fondly  sighed  to  return  to,  never 
again  to  be  torn  from  it. 


<•» 

- 


• 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  223 


•  -  •  • 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Introductory  to  the  southern  campaign.     Revolutionary  spirit  in  the  south. 


A  HE  revolution  which,  in  1 776,  raised  the  American  people  to  the  rank  of 
an  independent  nation,  is  to  be  traced  up  to  a  very  remote  origin  in  the  conn-  s 
try  south  of  the  Roanoke.     It  was  there  but  the  last  step  of  a  gradual  and 
steady  advance  from  despotism  to  freedom. 

It  was  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  who  first  drew  the  attention  of  the  British  nation 
to  the  settlement  of  the  noble  country  that  stretches  from  the  Gulf  of  Florida 
to  the  Bay  of  St.  Lawrence.  In  1584,  he  set  the  example  by  an  attempt 
to  plant  a  colony  within  the  present  limits  of  the  state  of  North  Carolina. 
Why,  with  such  a  country  before  them,  many  parts  of  which  they  had  actually 
.  visited,  his  colony  should  have  fixed  on  one  of  the  wretched  islands  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Roanoke  River  for  such  an  establishment  was  a  mysterv,  until 
a  recent  discovery  in  Balcarras  county  has  developed  the  fascinating  cause. 
"  There  is  gold,  and  the  gold  of  that  land  is  good."* 

It  is  a  fact  that  some  specimens  of  that  metal  were  seen  among  the  natives 
at  an  early  period,  and  this,  the  great  object  of  pursuit  in  that  age,  as  it  has 


*  Appendix  A- 


Si  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CFIAP.   been  indeed,  in  every  age ;  fixed  the  choice  of  this  party  to  a  situation  possess- 
^v^^,  ing  not  one  other  quality  to  recommend  it,  unless  it  was  die  fish  diat  the  water* 
afforded. 

This  attempt  ceased  to  be  prosecuted  upon  die  disgrace  of  Raleigh ;  and 
from  James  River  to  the  Floridas  die  numerous  aborigines  ranged  in  peace 
over  their  native  forest  until  die  era  of  the  restoration. 

It  has  been  pertinently  remarked  of  Charles  II.  of  Great  Britain,  that  there 
was  more  wit  than  truth  in  the  assertion,  "  That  he  never  said  a  foolish  thing, 

4 

nor  ever  did  a  wise  one." 

The  acts  of  wisdom  that  distinguish  liis  reign,  were  certainly  not  many  in 
number;  but  he  had  the  good  sense  to  favour  and  cherish  the  North  American 
colonies.  He  saw  himself  surrounded  by  thousands  of  needy  dependants,  and 
boisterous  spirits,  both  of  which  descriptions  of  men,  it  was  his  policy  to  find 
employment  for — adapted  to  their  tempers  and  wants,  and  in  a  mode  least 
calculated  to  end  in  drafts  on  his  purse,  or  interruptions  of  his  pleasures.  Many 
.  causes  in  addidon  to  those  above  alluded  to,  concurred  at  die  time  to  impress 
on  this  measure,  the  stamp  of  mature  wisdom.  Before  the  time  of  Cromwell, 
whenever  the  British  nation  rendered  itself  formidable  abroad,  it  was  at  the 
expense  of  prosperity  at  home.  As  a  politician,  few  men  have  ever  excelled 
that  usurper;  for  usurper  he  must  be  named,  since,  whether  from  king  or 
people,  and  however  beneficially  used,  his  power  was  violently  acquired.  His 
views  of  national  policy  were  grand  and  profound,  and  with  promptness  and 
decision,  he  knew  how  to  avail  himself  of  times  and  circumstances.  His 
victories  in  Scotland  and  Ireland  secured  internal  tranquillity  to  Great  Britain, 
whilst  his  splendid  naval  victories  commanded  the  trembling  respect  of  the 
powers  on  the  continent.  AH  the  legitimate  race  who  had  preceded  him,  had 
never  been  able  to  give  the  same  eclat  to  the  British  nation.  The  agricultural, 
commercial,  and  naval  prosperity  of  that  kingdom,  were  laid  in  his  time. 

When  Charles  came  to  the  throne,  he  found  the  lands  distributed  among, 
and  cultivated  by  industrious  hands;  commerce  ready  to  explore  the  earth, 
fearless  under  the  protecting  ascendancy  of  the  British  navy  and  die  British 
name ;  and  the  whole  nation  in  a  state  of  elasticity,  which  needed  only  free 
dom  and  security  to  lead  to  national  prosperity.  Revolutions,  such  as  that 
government  had  recently  passed  through,  when  not  protracted  until  excitement 
sinks  under  its  own  exertions,  are  eminently  calculated  to  produce  such  a  result. 
Individuals  are  impelled  to  enterprize,  and  the  human  mind  acquires  vigour, 
independence,  and  acuteness,  from  the  reflections  and  discussions  which  are 
forced  upon  it.  Awakened  from  diat  state  of  torpor  and  of  habit,  in  which 
nine  tenths  of  mankind  doze  away  their  lives,  and  in  which  it  is  too  much  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  . 

interest  of  the  rulers  of  the  earth  to  keep  them  absorbed,  men  discover,  that,  CHAP. 
however  bitted  and  harnessed,  and  flayed  and  goaded,  still  the  physical  ^^^J 
strength  is  with  them,  whether  the  car  of  state  is  to  be  kept  in  motion  or  over 
turned:  and  rulers  become  (sometimes  too  late)  sensible  that  they  have  duties 
to  fulfil  towards  the  governed.  Conscious  security  in  their  acquirements,  the 
prospect  of  peace,  and  agricultural  and  commercial  habits  in  England,  led  to 
colonization ;  and  the  listlessness  of  a  state  of  inactivity,  to  many  who  had 
long  lived  in  the  whirl  of  politics  and  war;  the  discontents  of  those  to  whom 
the  restoration  was  not  agreeable,  (and  who  well  knew  they  must  long  bo 
looked  upon  with  suspicion ;)  and  of  others,  who  abominated  the  re-establish 
ment  of  the  Episcopal  Hierarchy,  all  contributed  to  furnish  fit  subjects  in 
abundance  for  such  a  purpose.  The  old  colonies  were  rapidly  filled  up,  and 
attempts  to  establish  others  became  popular. 

The  emigrants  furnished  to  the  Carolinas,  by  the  causes  originating  in  the 
political  events  in  England,  appeal-  always  to  have  cherished  a  revolutionary 
spirit ;  or  rather  to  have  been  fully  sensible  of  the  value  of  civil  and  religious 
-rights,  and  ready  to  risk  their  lives  in  asserting  them.  At  the  same  time,  there 
always  existed  a  royal  party,  cherished  and  nurtured  under  the  patronage  of 
government : — this  was  the  necessary  result  of  the  early  political  institutions 
introduced  into  these  colonies. 

The  code  of  laws  called  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  was  the  first  system 
of  government  proposed  for  the  country  south  of  Virginia.  This  has  generally 
been  attributed  to  the  celebrated  John  Lock.  If  correctly ;  the  profound  inves 
tigator  of  the  human  understanding,  was  placed,  like  Moses  on  Pisgah,  the 
whole  region  open  before  him,  without  a  hope  of  reaching  it  himself.  Never 
did  human  ingenuity  devise  a  more  striking  specimen  of  inveterate  folly.  It 
is  easy  to  conceive,  and  the  world  has  unfortunately  but  too  much  cause  to 
know,  that  the  profound  metaphysician  may  be  miserably  deficient  as  a  prac 
tical  politician.  Yet  it  is  but  justice  to  this  great  man  to  observe,  that  the 
evidence  of  his  having  been  the  author  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  is 
by  no  means  satisfactory.  A  cotemporary  writer  attributes  this  truly  sciolous 
production  to  the  Earl  of  Shaftsbury,  one  of  the  proprietors.* 

The  most  striking  feature  in  these  constitutions  was,  that  privileged  or  dig 
nified  orders  were  to  be  established,  and  the  people  to  be  converted  into  serft. 
A  nobility,  consisting  of  landgraves,  casiques,  and  baions,  were  to  be  gradu 
ated  by  the  landed  estates  granted  them  along  with  the  dignity;  and  their 


*  Oldiniion's  British  Empire,  vol.  1,  p.  332, 

29 


296  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  tenants,  and  the  issue  of  their  tenants,  were  to  be  transferred  with  the  soil, 
not  at  liberty  to  depart  from  it,  without  their  lord's  permission  under  hand 
and  seal. 

It  is  obvious,  that  whilst  other  lands  were  to  be  had,  this  feudal  nobility 
would  either  hold  their  estates  untenanted,  or  must  depend  on  slaves,  or  else 
descend  to  the  servile  task  of  cultivating  them  with  their  own  hands.  But 
these  institutions  contemplated  the  introduction  of  Negro  slaves,  and  vest  in 
the  owner  unlimited  power  over  them. 

Little  did  these  dreamers  know  of  the  spirit  of  independence  generated,  if 
not  originally  existing,  in  the  adventurers  of  a  colony  in  North  America ;  where 
men  sleep  on  their  fire-arms,  and  are  every  hour  taught  their  own  importance 
in  subduing  both  the  forest,  and  the  savages  that  prowl  through  it. 

From  the  first  moment  of  the  settlement  of  the  colony  at  Charlestown,  which 
was  in  1669, — the  year  that  gave  birth  to  this  system,  the  struggle  against  its 
odious  provisions  commenced/  And  as  early  as  1675,  parties  had  already 
assumed  a  marked  and  decided  character.  They  were  compared  to  the  court 
and  country  parties  in  England ;  and  it  is  obvious,  from  all  the  accounts  given 
of  the  conduct  and  tenets  of  the  parties,  that  they  were  the  loyalist  and  repub 
lican  parties  of  die  mother  country.  The  former  being  patronized  by  the 
lords  proprietors,  were  exclusively  in  power ;  and  the  latter,  resolved  to  oust 
them.  The  project  wras  soon  extended  to  ousting  the  proprietors  themselves. 
The  distinction  of  cavaliers  and  puritans,  by  which  the  parties  were  sometimes 
designated,  sufficiently  marks  the  leading  characters  of  each. 

At  first,  the  republican  party  appear  to  have  been  viewed  as  malcontents ; 
and  were  scoffed  at  and  ridiculed  by  the  cavaliers  and  their  dignified  cotempo- 
raries ;  but  it  is  evident  the  republicans  gained  ground  rapidly ;  for,  the  fear  of 
religious  persecution  and  a  popish  successor,  drove  many  of  the  adherents  of 
their  tenets  from  Great  Britain.  As  early  as  1689,  we  find  a  majority  of  the 
commons-house,  as  it  was  called,  protesting  against  the  Fundamental  Consti 
tutions,  and  in  consequence  thereof,  the  governor  and  council  excluding  them 
from  their  seats  in  that  body.  But  their  fall  was  that  of  Antceus,  for  at  the  next 
election  the  whole  of  that  branch  was  decidedly  in  the  opposition.  And  in 
the  spirit  of  the  days  of  King  John,  they  sullenly  and  pertinaciously  refused  to 
pass  any  law  proposed  by  the  governor  and  council,  notwithstanding  the  affairs 
of  the  province  were  in  the  utmost  derangement,  and  its  safety  seriously  threat 
ened  both  by  the  Spaniards  and  Indians. 

James  Colleton,  the  brother  of  one  of  the  proprietors,  was  then  governor. 
He  undertook  to  proclaim  martial  law;  and  in  the  "  unquestionable  exercise 
of  his  prerogative,"  dissolved  liis  mutinous  commons.. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  227 

Just  at  this  crisis  an  event  occurred,  which  gave  to  the  opposition,  a  leader  CHAP. 
calculated  to  answer  their  purposes.  t*  s^-v-^ 

Seth  Sothel,  an  English  gentleman,  had  purchased  out  Lord  Clarendon's 
share  of  the  proprietary  grant;  and  a  similar  revolutionary  spirit  to  that  which 
now  animated  the  oppositionists  of  the  southern  colony,  having  made  its  ap 
pearance  in  the  country  lying  between  Albemarle  Sound  and  the  Virginia  line, 
Sothel  was  sent  out  to  curb  them  armed  with  plenary  power,  and  carrying  in 
his  person  all  the  weight  of  proprietary  interest.  Yet  he  was  not  able  to  crush 
the  hydra ;  and  after  having  signally  disgraced  himself  by  die  most  infamous 
conduct,  he  was  arrested,  tried,  deposed  and  banished  by  the  commons  of 
North  Carolina. 

From  Albemarle  he  proceeded  to  Charlestown,  and  arriving  in  the  height  of 
the  ferment  existing  there,  he  took  upon  himself  to  assume  the  oilice  of  gover 
nor,  supported  by  the  strong  party  of  republicans,  now  possessing  all  the  physi 
cal  strength  of  the  colony. 

Sothel  was  precisely  die  man  whom  the  revolutionary  party  now  stood  in 
need  of.  His  proprietary  character  and  assumed  authority,  would  protect 
them  from  prosecution ;  and  his  want  of  either  talents  or  weight  of  character, 
would  remove  all  difficulty  in  deposing  him,  when  they  should  no  longer  need 
his  name.  A  plan  was  concerted  between  him  and  the  leaders  in  the  opposi 
tion;  and  to  a  well  supported  petition  to  issue  writs  for  a  new  election,  he 
graciously  accorded  his  consent. 

The  character  of  the  legislature  thus  elected,  may  easily  be  conjectured. 
The  vaunting  cavaliers  began  to  be  serious  and  respectful  in  their  deportment 
toward  dieir  adversaries;  and  Colleton,  although  as  an  individual v and  a 
governor  very  much  respected  for  his  correct  and  dignified  deportment,  soon 
found  himself  accused  and  convicted  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  and 
banished  from  the  province.  With  him,  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  crum 
bled  to  dust ;  for,  the  lords  proprietors  finding  it  impossible  to  force  them  upon 
a  people  who  had  exhibited  such  a  spirit ;  had  good  sense  enough  to  resolve, 
"  that  as  the  people  have  declared  they  would  rather  be  governed  by  die  powers 
granted  by  the  charter,  without  regard  to  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  it 
will  be  for  their  quie^,  and  die  protection  of  the  well  disposed,  to  grant  their 
requests."* 

Having  now  obtained  their  immediate  purpose,  the  revolutionists  made  no 
difficulty  in  surrendering  Mr.  Sothel  to  the  rage  of  the  lords  proprietors ;  and 
quietly  suffered  him  to  be  recalled,  and  another  governor  to  be  duly  substituted. 

*  Chalmers'  Political  Annals,  p.  552. 


228  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Tliis  wise  and  ingenious  precaution  of  the  South  Carolinians,  to  interpose 
v^-v^x^.  Sothel  between  thcmse'ves  and  power,  appears  to  have  been  suggested  by  an 
occurrence  which  attracted  universal  attention  in  die  colonies  at  that  time, 
inasmuch  as  in  its  progress  the  principle  was  established  in  Great  Britain,  that 
the  colonists  were  amenable  to  the  British  courts  of  law  for  treasons  committed 
in  America.  This  occurrence  will  here  be  noticed  somewhat  at  large,  since  it 
leads  to  the  dev  elopement  of  the  early  origin  of  the  contest  between  the  colo 
nies  and  the  mother  country ;  and  proves  the  struggle  to  have  been  coeval  with 
the  producing  cause.  The  British  historian*  has  cited  the  navigation  acts  of 
Charles  II.,  the  parliamentary  measures  consequent  upon  them,  and  the  sub 
mission  of  the  colonies,  as  precedents  to  justify  the  stamp-act,  the  duty  on  tea 
and  on  other  articles,  and  the  subsequent  parliamentary  measures  which  led  to 
the  revolution  of  1 776 ;  it  is  then  a  full  and  natural  reply  to  the  argument  to 
show,  that  the  attempt  to  establish  a  general  parliamentary  power  over  die 
colonies,  was  resisted  in  its  very  inception ;  and  only  submitted  to,  until  the 
colonies  had  acquired  po\ver  to  resist  with  effect 

.  The  great  object  at  both  periods  was,  to  fix  the  limits  of  parliamentary 
power;  and  the  great  end  of  the  people  of  America,  to  secure  to  themselves  a 
sanctioned  participation  in  the  rights  of  Englishmen.  Just  one  hundred  years 
elapsed  between  the  commencement  of  the  colonial  system,  and  its  final  op 
pressive  extension ;  but  at  both  periods  it  was  met  witii  the  same  temper,  and 
a  plain  indication  was  given,  that  nothing  but  the  want  of  strength  prevented 
effectual  resistance  to  the  offensive  principles  which  it  involved.  The  imposi 
tion  of  a  small  tax  on  the  consumption  of  tea,  led  to  die  great  revolution  of 
1776;  and  a  tax  of  a  penny  a  pound  on  the  consumption  of  tobacco  in  the 
colonies,  actually  produced  a  minor  revolution  one  hundred  years  before.  The 
very  leading  questions  which  occupied  the  minds  of  the  colonists  at  the  period 
of  1776,  we  will  find  convulsing  the  colonies  in  1677.  The  right  of  throwing 
off  an  arbitrary  government ;  die  right  of  taxing  the  colonies  widiout  their 
consent;  the  right  of  subjecting  the  colonists  to  trial  before  a  British  Jury ;  and 
even  the  right  of  cutting  off  die  trade  of  Boston,  will  all  be  found  involved  in 
the  miniature  revolution  which  took  place  in  North  Carolina  in  the  year  1677. 
It  is  contended  by  Mr.  Chalmers,  that  die  arguments-  at  that  time  used  by 
the  colonists,  did  not  insist  on  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  measures  com 
plained  of,  but  only  on  their  inexpediency.  But  it  would  have  been  a  folly  in 
the  supplicants  to  have  outraged  those  who  certainly  possessed  the  physical 


Chalmers. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  229 

power,  by  denying  their  legitimate  power,  at  a  time  when  the  colonists  could   CHAP. 
*only  hope  to  obtain  from  their  benevolence  what  could  not  be  extorted  from  ^-v^s 
them  by  force.  But  Mr.  Chalmers  is  incorrect  in  point  of  fact;  for  it  will  be  seen 
that,  in  South  Carolina  at  least,  the  question  of  unconstitutional! ty  was  actually 
insisted  on,  and  such  a  spirit  of  opposition  exhibited,  as  rendered  the  execution 
of  the  laws  complained  of,  for  some  time  impracticable. 

The  name  of  John  Culpepper  has  been  handed  down  to  posterity,  loaded 
with  unmerited  odium.  A  British  court  had  pronounced  him  guilty  of  high 
treason,  and  no  author  has  ventured  to  criticise  that  decision,  or  examine  the 
charges  upon  which  it  was  founded.  John  Culpepper  was  an  early  and  bold 
assertor  of  some  of  the  very  principles  which  produced  the  revolution  of  1 776, 
and  had  nearly  fallen  the  victim  of  a  premature  struggle  against  the  exercise  of 
arbitrary  power.  Washington  would  also  have  been  convicted  of  high  trea 
son  had  he  failed  of  success,  and  the  arbitrary  influence  of  events  upon 
opinions  may  have  changed  the  voice  of  eulogy  into  censure.  Culpepper's 
efforts  were  on  a  minor  scale ;  but  they  were  marked  with  a  character  of 
vigour  and  decision,  and  founded  in  a  correctness  of  doctrine,  and  purity  and 
philanthropy  of  design,  which  ought  to  have  secured  to  him  a  more  favourable 
notice  from  the  authors  who  have  dwelt  on  his  conduct. 

That  the  British  writers  should  have  represented  him  as  a  mere  disturber 
of  social  order,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at;  but  that  the  historian  of  North 
Carolina,*  himself  an  actor  in  the  scenes  of  the  last  revolution,  should,  not 
only  have  adopted  their  views,  but  expressed  their  opinions  with  exasperated 
severity,  is  a  subject  of  some  surprise.  In  this,  however,  he  has  copied  not 
only  the  facts,  but  the  opinions  of  Chalmers ;  and  Chalmers'  palpable  object 
was  to  exhibit  the  conduct  of  the  colonists  as  marked  with  ingratitude  and 
mutiny,  through  every  stage  of  their  career.  Had  his  work  advanced  to  a 
second  volume,  agreeably  to  his  original  design,  this  observation  would  have 
been  more  amply  verified. 

As  a  relater  of  facts,  Chalmers  is  an  author  of  the  first  authority;  for  he  is 
the  only  writer  who  ever  had  access  to  the  archives  of  the  lords  proprietors, 
and  of  the  board  of  trade  and  plantations.  But  through  his  own  facts,  his 
errors  in  opinion  may  be  fully  detected;  nor  is  it  unimportant  to  notice,  that 
in  the  views  which  he  presents  of  those  facts,  he  cannot  be  suspected  of  a 
design  to  palliate  the  conduct  that  his  patrons  disapproved  of.f 


Dr.  Williamson.  t  He  was  secretary  to  the  board  of  trade. 


230  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

The  ministerial  documents  of  the  day,  represent  Culpepper  as  a  native  of 
;  New  England,  and  as  having  "  some  time  before  fled  from  South  Carolina " 
where  he  was  in  danger  of  hanging,  for  endeavouring  to  set  die  poor  people  to 
plunder  the  rich."* 

This  charge  (which  is  copied  by  Dr.  Williamson)  is  easily  explained  by  a 
reference  to  die  early  history  of  diat  state.  A  struggle  existed  there  between 
the  court  and  country  parties,  and  this  was  the  complexion  which  it  suited 
the  court  party  to  give  to  the  views  and  designs  of  their  antagonists.  From 
the  early  records  of  the  state  of  South  Carolina  it  appears,  that  Culpepper 
was  in  fact  a  member  of  the  commons-house  of  assembly,  first  constituted 
under  the  proprietary  government,  or  radier  under  what  were  called  the  Fun 
damental  Constitutions.  Immediately  on  the  organization  of  a  legislative 
body  in  South  Carolina,  it  is  well  known  that  a  struggle  arose  between  the 
champions  of  prerogative,  and  die  champions  of  equal  rights.  We  have  only 
to  suppose  Culpepper  the  active  supporter  of  the  latter  party,  and  incurring 
thereby  the  frowns  of  die  party  in  power,  to  account  for  his  fleeing  from  the 
country,  and  being  followed  by  the  charge  of  encouraging  "  the  poor  to  plunder 
the  rich;"  and  in  order  to  understand  the  origin,  and  judge  of  the  truth  of  the 
character  given  him  by  die  ministerial  party.  His  subsequent  conduct  affords 
sufficient  ground  to  form  a  judgment  of  the  course  he  had  previously  pursued. 
The  struggle  in  which  Culpepper  incurred  the  charge  of  high  treason,  had 
its  origin  in  a  duty  imposed  on  tobacco,  a  restriction  on  the  right  of  exporting 
it,  and  a  consequent  restraint  imposed  on  the  trade  of  New  England,  and  on  a 
mercantile  intercourse  between  the  two  states  of  Massachusetts  and  North 
Carolina.  It  was  attended  by  measures  exactly  analogous  to  those  pursued 
in  the  revolution  of  1776,  and  followed  by  several  of  the  identical  arbitrary 
acts  complained  of  in  the  declaration  of  independence.  Loyalty  and  dis 
loyalty  are,  as  usual,  die  stalking  horses  made  use  of  by  the  friends  of  the  pro 
prietors;,  but  the  disguise  thrown  over  the  real  grounds  of  the  contest,  is  too 
flimsy  to  conceal  its  real  character. 

The  southern  boundary  line  of  Virginia,  commencing  a  little  north  of  Curri- 
tuck,  does  not  intersect  the  Roanokc  until  it  passes  JMoody's  Ferry ;  leaving  an 
extensive  and  pleasant  country  between  that  line  and  the  waters  of  Roanoke 
and  Albemarlc.  Very  soon  after  the  settlement  of  Virginia,  adventurers  were 
tempted  by  many  causes  to  occupy  this  tract  of  country.  But  every  cause 
conspired  to  give  to  this  settlement  a  feeling  and  character  strongly  republican. 


*  Chalmers. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  231 

i 
The  demons  of  religious  and  civil  persecution  had  made  their  way  across  the  CH  AP. 

Atlantic,  and  many  of  those  who  had  sought  the  wilderness  as  an  asylum  from  s-r>^h/ 
religious  tyranny,  found  themselves  obliged  to  flee  still  farther  to  avoid  the 
fangs  of  their  persecutors.  Virginia  and  Maryland,  in  common  with  almost 
every  establishes  government  in  America,  had  commenced  the  unhallowed 
career  of  persecution ;  and  quakers,  puritans,  sectarians  of  various  descriptions 
were  obliged  to  fly,  or  suffer  under  civil  or  ecclesiastical  despotism.*  The 
north  shores  of  the  Albemarle  Sound,  presented  an  eligible  retreat;  there  was 
there  no  civilized  man  to  persecute,  no  legitimate  government  to  devour  them. 
The  country  was  still  possessed  by  savages,  who  could  be  soothed  by  just  and 
mile!  treatment,  and  would,  for  a  moderate  compensation,  surrender  an  ade 
quate  quantity  of  land,  unembarrassed  by  reservations  of  quit-rents  or  feudal 
services. 

The  state  of  North  Carolina  was,  at  this  time,  peculiarly  situated.  All  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh's  efforts  to  colonize  it  having  failed,  it  was,  after  the  unparal 
leled  murder  of  that  conspicuous  man,  granted  out  successively  to  companies, 
and  to  Sir  Robert  Heath,  "  in  pios  usus."  But  no  recent  endeavours  had 
been  made  to  colonize  it,  and  it  remained  nearly  in  a  dereliet  state.  It  was 
at  this  time  that  the  Albemarle  settlement,  unaided  by  government  or  com 
pany,  wp^,  commenced  by  men  who  had  vigour  of  character  sufficient  to 
govern,  defend,  and  provide  for,  themselves.  But  man  is  never  suffered  thus 
to  elude  "  the  powers  that  be."  The  grant  to  the  lords  proprietors  which 
extended  from  the  29th  degree  of  north  latitude  to  36  degrees  30  minutes, 
embraced  this  little  settlement;  and  after  near  twenty  years  of  tranquil 
lity,  prosperity,  and  self-government,  the  governor  of  Virginia,f  who,  no 


*  Williamson,  vol.  1,  p.  81. 

t  This  was  Governor  Berkeley,  who  presided  near  forty  years  over  the  destinies  of  Virginia, 
a  period  which  some  seem  to  imagine  the  halcyon  days  of  that  province.  The  concluding  lines 
of  a  note  of  his  addressed  to  the  lords  proprietors  on  the  subject  of  the  system  the  JJr  itish  govern 
ment  was  entering  upon,  to  prevent  the  colonies  from  building  ships,  or  trading  with  foreigners, 
or  even  with  each  other,  although  it  abounds  with  loyalty  and  devotion  to  legitimate  govern  men:, 
exhibits  a  curious  coincidence  between  the  sentiments  of  the  legitimates  of  that  day  and  the  present. 
These  are  this  worthy  governor's  words:  "We  have  forty-eight  parishes,  and  our  ministers  are  well 
paid,  and  by  my  consent  should  be  better,  if  they  would  pray  oftcncr  and preach  /<  ss ;  but  as  of 
all  other  commodities,  so  of  this,  the  worst  are  sent  us;  and  we  have  few  that  we  can  boast  of, 
since  the  persecution  in  Cromwell's  tyranny  drove  divers  worthy  men  hit'ier.  Yet,  I  thank  God, 
there  are  no  frte-srhooh  n6r  printing-presses,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  luve  these  hundred  years. 
For  learning  has  brought  disobedience,  and  heresy,  and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  ha* 
divulged  them  and  libels  against  the  best  government :  God  keep  us  from  both  !"  William  Berke 
ley.  Chalmers,  p.  32S. 


•  t  •  • 

.*"'-•  «  * 

..-    .'••    •   . 

'232  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  doubt,  had  long  looked  with  jealousy  on  the  escape  and  happiness  of  these 
fugitives  from  the  wise  laws  over  which  he  presided ;  was  gratified  by  the  lords 
proprietors  with  power  to  appoint  them  a  legislative  council  and  governor. 
The  next  benefit  conferred  upon  them  was  the  code  of  "  Fundamental  Consti 
tutions,"  with  all  their  badges  of  aristocracy  and  vassalage;  and  lastly,  a 
system  of  the  most  corrupt  legislative  regulations,  exempting  emigrants  from 
the  recovery  of  debts,  and  thus  converting  this  asylum  of  religion  into  a  den  of 
iniquity.  Lastly  came  laws  prohibiting  them  from  exporting  their  produce  any 
where  but  to  the  mother  country,  and  then,  to  levy  a  tax  not  imposed  by  them 
selves,  and  more  offensive  in  principle,  and  more  oppressive  in  operation,  than 
the  stamp-act  or  duty  on  tea  which  led  to  the  revolution  of  1776.  This  was 
the  duty  of  a  penny  on  every  pound  of  tobacco  shipped  from  one  colony  to  any 
other.  The  scheme  of  taxing  the  colonies  had,  in  fact,  already  been  adopted, 
and  an  experiment  was  now  to  be  made  of  the  temper  with  which  it  would  be 
submitted  to.  The  spirit  with  which  it  was  met  may  have  postponed  its  pro 
secution  for  a  century  following. 

Subsequent  events  in  the  colony  of  Albemarle  exhibit  the  revolution  of 
1776  in  miniature.  Unhappily,  however,  for  the  former,  the  catastrophe  was 
different. 

During  the  time  that  the  Albemarle  settlement  remained  in  a  state  of  inde 
pendence,  it  appears  that  the  New  Englanders  monopolized  the  trade  of  their 
little  colony.  Nor  was  that  trade  comparatively  inconsiderable;  for  they 
already  sent  to  market  a  large  quantity  of  tobacco.  This  was  shipped  at  their 
doors,  and  in  return  they  received  the  articles  which  they  wanted,  and  which 
were  procured  from  whatever  country  afforded  the  most  favourable  market. 
Here  was  a  subject  of  heart-burning  both  to  the  mother  country  and  the 
neighbouring  colony ;  for,  but  for  the  convenience  of  this  trade,  their  tobacco 
must  have  been  transported  to  Jamestown,  and  there  have  paid  a  duty  into  the 
coffers  of  Virginia ; — in  the  payment  of  which,  it  appears,  the  governor  had  a 
direct  interest;  and  thus  supplies  of  European  and  West  India  articles  must 
have  been  obtained  from  England  through  the  same  channel,  since  vessels  of  a 
heavy  draft  of  water,  such  as  the  European  trade  then  employed,  could  not 
have  had  access  to  the  waters  of  the  Albemarle. 

To  break  up  the  New  England  trade  and  restore  the  monopoly  to  die 
mother  country,  was  one  object  of  the  measures  now*  pursued  by  the  ministe 
rial  party.  But  there  was  another  of  much  higher  importance. 

The  only  three  colonies  existing  in  America,  during  the  civil  wars  in  Eng 
land  in  the  time  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  very  unwisely  intermeddled  in  the  con 
test  between  the  Charleses  and  their  subjects.  Virginia  declared  for  the  king, 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  23 

Massachusetts  for  the  commonwealth,  and  Maryland  was  distracted  and  CHAP. 
divided  by  contending  parties.  Cromwell  thought  proper  to  reward  Massa-  ^^^ 
chusetts  and  punish  Virginia,  by  commercial  regulations ;  arid  Charles,  on  the 
restoration,  showed  a  disposition  to  retaliate.  Thus  did  commercial  regula 
tions  on  the  colonies/  become  an  object  of  parlamentary  attention.  During 
the  time  of  the  commonwealth,  the  exclusive  use  of  English  shipping  for  the 
transportation  of  colonial  produce,  was  not  imposed  as  a  duty,  but  reserved 
or  purchased  as  the  equivalent  for  favours  conferred.*  But  Charles  II.  had 
scarcely  mounted  his  tlironc  before  the  celebrated  navigation  act  of  1661  was 
passed,  by  which  it  is  enacted,  "  that  no  merchandize  shall  be  imported  into 
the  plantations  or  territories  to  his  majesty  belonging,  in  Asia,  Africa,  or  Ame 
rica,  or  exported  from  them,  but  in  English  vessels,  navigated  by  Englishmen; 
and  that  no  sugar,  tobacco,  ginger,  indigo,  cotton,  fustic,  c _•  dying  woods  of  the 
growth  of  the  English  territories  in  America,  Asia,  or  Africa,  shall  be  trans 
ported  thence  to  any  other  countries  than  those  belonging  to  the  crown  of 
England,"  under  penalty  of  forfeiture,  &c.  Rice,  molasses,  and  copper-ore 
were  afterwards  in  due  course  subjected  to  the  same  restriction. — And  all  this, 
as  is  expressed  in  an  act  on  the  same  subject,  passed  in  1663,  "  to  maintain  a 
greater  correspondence  and  kindness  between  the  colonies  and  England,  to 
keep  them  in  firmer  dependence  upon  it,  and  to  make  this  kingdom  a  staple 
not  only  of  the  productions  of  the  plantations,  but  of  the  merchandizes  of  other 
countries  for  supplying  them ;"  a  preamble  which  honestly,  does  not  pretend 
to  have  any  regard  to  the  interests  or  wishes  of  the  unfortunate  colonists. 

But  still  the  intercourse  between  the  colonies  remained  open ;  and  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  very  little  of  the  tobacco  shipped  for  Massachusetts  ever 
reached  an  entrepot,  or  halted  in  its  progress  to  its  real  destination — an  Euro 
pean  market  And  if  it  did,  still  the  colonists  obtained  it  free  from  the  duty  of 
a  penny  per  pound  on  the  consumption  of  it  in  Great  Britain. 

Every  session  of  parliament  now  produced  some  new  regulation  to  confine 
the  commerce  of  die  colonies  within  the  prescribed  limits,  and  to  prevent  those 
evasions,  which  the  wits  of  one  of  the  shrewdest  people  in  the  world  were  now 
at  work  to  machinate. 

At  length,  in  the  year  1672,  to  give  the  coup  dc  grace  to  this  colonial  trade 
in  tobacco,  at  that  time  the  only  export  of  any  value  produced  on  the  North 
American  continent,  a  penny  per  pound  was  imposed  on  all  exports  of  it, 
where  bonds  were  not  given  to  land  it  in  Great  Britain ;  and  the  whole  busi- 


Act  of  1646. 
30 


»  • 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE, 

CHAP,  ness  was  required  to  be  managed,  and  the  imposts  levied,  by  officers  to  be 
appointed  by  the  commissioners  of  the  customs  in  England,  under  the  autho 
rity  of  the  lords  of  the  treasury. 

. .  This  law  bore  with  peculiar  hardship  on  the  Albemarle  settlement.  As  the 
large  European  vessels  were  excluded  by  the  shallow,  ness  of  their  bar,  the 
small  New  England  sloops  alone  ascended  to  their  doors,  and  hence  all  their 
tobacco  was  really  or  affectedly  shipped  for  Boston.  Yet  the  people  submit 
ted  ;  for  the  idea  was  cherished,  that  after  paying  their  penny  impost,  the  right 
was  acquired  of  transporting  their  tobacco  to  any  market;  and  die  number  of 
shipping-places  along  the  waters  of  the  Albemarle,  would  probably  have 
afforded  great  facilities  for  evading  the  duty  altogether. 

At  length,  howe-.rr,  a  rigid  tax-gatherer  made  his  appearance;  and  the 
question  being  submitted  to  the  attorney-general  of  England,  whether  the  pay 
ment  of  the  duty,  dispensed  with  die  necessity  of  giving  a  bond  to  land  die 
tobacco  in  Great  Britain — his  decision  was  very  correctly  against  the  planters, 
on  the  construction  of  the  two  laws.  And  finding  themselves  compelled,  though 
they  paid  the  penny  to  give  the  bond,  they  appear  to  have  become  moody 
and  intractable.  As  long  as  it  bore  the  aspect  of  a  regulation  affecting  foreign 
commerce,  they  were  contented  to  submit.  Great  Britain  had  assumed  and 
exercised  a  control  over  their  intercourse  with  other  nations  too  long,  and  they 
were  too  weak  to  admit  of  its  being  now  disputed ;  but  when  an  intercourse 
among  themselves  came  to  be  thus  cramped  and  encumbered,  and  the  con 
sumption  of  their  own  produce  among  themselves  taxed,  public  sentiment 
appears  to  have  risen  strongly  against  the  measure.  It  will  be  found  by  refer- 
big  to  the  history  of  the  colonies  at  this  time,  there  were  serious  disturbances 
excited: in  every  one  of  them;  and  though  the  object  of  the  leaders  in  those 
instances  is  not  always  avowed,  there  cin  be  little  doubt  of  its  identity. 

But  in  every  colony  except  Albemarle,  there  was  an  organized  government 
to  control  or  suppress  these  ebullitions.  In  this  settlement,  although  they  had 
passed  under  the  lord  proprietors,  and  been  subjected  to  the  governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  the  republican  feelings  generated  by  the  early  circumstances  of  their 
settlement,  appear  still  to  have  predominated. 

It  was  not  until  July  1G77  that  a  collector  of  the  royal  customs  for  Albe 
marle  made  his  appearance.  His  name  was  Miller,  and  he  came  vested  at  the 
same  time  with  the  powers  of  a  governor,  and  of  a  deputy  of  the  lords  pro 
prietors.  The  post  of  governor  having  become  vacant  by  the  death  of  Gover 
nor  Stevens,  the  lords  proprietors  had  nominated  to  the  vacancy  one  East- 
church,  a  prominent  character  of  the  ministerial  party  in  the  colony,  and  who 
chanced  to  be  at  that  time  in  England. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  23o 

Miller  preceded  Eastchurch,  and  was  vested  by  the  latter  with  power  to   CHAP. 
discharge  his  duties  in  his  absence,  under  the  denomination  of  president   ; 

Miller  appears,  immediately  on  his  arrival,  to  have  sot  about  collecting  'die 
obnoxious  penny  with  active  zeal ;  and  it  is  not  without  surprise,  and  a  siis-*. 
picion  that  the  tobacco  of  Virginia  nrist  in  fact  have  vented  itself  through  this 
outlet,  that  we  learn  from  unquestionable  authority,  ilmt  in  the  short  space  of 
six  months,  he  had  collected  327, 068 -pounds  of  tobacco,  and  £1,242  sterling 
in  money, — from  a  colony  represented  by  bimself  to  have  "  consisted  of  a  few 
inconsiderable  plantations  dispersed  over  the  north-eastern  bank  of  the  Albe 
marle." 

But  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  other  colonies  then  existing,  the  popula 
tion  of  Albemarle  was  not  so  inconsiderable.  It  consisted  of  about  seven 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  thq  annual  parliamentary  revenue,  though  badly 
collected,  was  estimated  at  £3,000  sterling  per  annum, — a  very  considerable 
sum  at  that  time,  for  so  small  a  population.* 

But  the  inhabitants  resolved  to  resist ;  and  that  it  was  not  the  act  of  an 
obscure  rabble,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  they  had  the  countenance  of  the 
lower  house  of  assembly,  and  were  actually  joined  by  one  of  the  deputies  of 
the  lords  proprietors.  That  it  was  not  a  mere  ebullition  of  passion,  or  riotous 
tumult,  is  expressly  avowed  by  the  communications  made  to  the  lords  proprie 
tors,  in  which  it  is  declared,  that  "  the  rebellion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Albe 
marle  was  not  accidental,  or  arose  from  any  sudden  provocation,  but  rathep 
was  the  effect  of  a  deliberate  contrivance.''! 

To  determine  the  designs  with  which  the  opposition  was  ventured  upon  by 
the  people  of  Albemarle,  we  have  the  imputations  of  their  adversaries  on  one 
hand,  and  their  own  manifesto  on  the  other;  but  what  they  actually  intended, 
is  best  evidenced  by  what  they  actually  performed. 

Seizing  upon  Miller  and  the  refractor}'  deputies  of  the  lords  proprietors,  and 
putting  them  in  prison,  a  new  administration  was  constituted,  with  Culpcpper 
at  the  head  of  it,  and  Albemarle  actually  enjoyed  a  state  of  revolutionary 
independence  for  several  years  after.  The  tobacco  collected  by  Miller  was 
appropriated  to  the  exigencies  of  the  new  state,  and  New  England  again 
enjoyed  for  a  time  a  monopoly  of  the  trade.  In  the  mean  time,  Eastchurch 
arrived  in  Virginia,  and  hearing  of  Miller's  deposition,  made  application  to 
Governor  Berkeley  for  a  force  to  restore  him  to  his  government.  The  demand 
was  promptly  acquiesced  in,  and  the  levy  of  troops  commenced  when  East- 


*  Chalmers,  p.  338.  t  Ibid.  561. 


236    V  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

••  t 

CH.AP.  church  fell  a  victim,  as  some  assert  to  mortification,  but  more  probably  to  the 
,  climate,  or  to  that  of  the  West  Indies,  from  which  he  had  just  arrived.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  revolutionists  having  arrested  the  present  evil,  endeavoured  to 
avert  a  greater  which  threatened  them  from  Virginia ;  and  Culpepper,  attended 
by  another  deputy,  hastened  to  England,  to  throw  himself  at  the  feet  of  his 
sovereign — an  act  indicative  of  great  firmness  and  conscious  purity.  At  first 
he  appeal's  to  have  met  with  a  favourable  reception,  and  was  about  returning 
in  safety  to  America,  when  he  was  arrested  in  the  Downs  by  a  warrant  from 
the  privy  council,  charged  with  the  crime  of  high  treason.  Culpepper  insisted 
on  his  right  to  be  sent  home  for  trial,  and  the  celebrated  question  arose  and  was 
decided  in  his  case,  upon  which  the  life  of  Ethen  Allen  was  made  to  depend, 
in  the  late  revolution ;  and  which  furnished  one  of  the  grounds  of  complaint 
enumerated  in  die  declaration  of  independence. 

The  British  court  decided  that  by  the  stat.  35  Henry  VIII.  c.  2.  all  foreign 
treasons  are  triable  in  England ;  and  that  to  overturn  the  government  of  the 
lords  proprietors,  was  treason  against  the  king.  Culpepper's  fate  now  seemed 
inevitable ;  when  he  was  saved  by  the  testimony  of  Earl  Shaftsbury,  who  de 
posed,  "  that  there  had  never  been  any  regular  government  permanently  estab 
lished  in  that  part  of  the  proprietary  territory  where  this  offence  was  commit 
ted."  An  assertion  which  flowed  from  his  humanity,  if  not  his  ignorance. 

Thus  were  the  lives  and  properties  of  die  citizens  of  the  colonies  placed,  for 
the  future,  at  the  disposal  of  a  British  jury.  Yet  the  decision  was  conformable 
to  precedent,  as  is  exemplified  in  Lord  M'Guire's  case,  in  the  State  Trials. 
And  that  class  of  offences  which,  of  all  others,  ought  least  to  be  exposed  to 
court  influence,  is  required  to  be  tried  under  the  eye  of  the  offended  monarch, 
and  where  the  accused  will  be  deprived  of  that  constitutional  security  held  out, 
or  intended  to  be  held  out,  to  every  British  subject  charged  with  offences, — of 
being  tried  by  a  jury  of  his  own  vicinage. 

The  following  curious  extract  from  the  records  of  that  remote  day,  will  dis 
cover  diat  the  cradle  which  rocked  the  infancy  of  the  late  revolution,  was  not 
then  used  for  the  first  time ;  and  North  Carolina,  ever  modest  in  her  pretensions 
amidst  the  jarring  claims  at  present  asserted  by  some  of  the  states,  will  not  feel 
outraged  at  the  evidence  of  her  having  been  an  early  nursery  of  the  spirit  of 
1776:  "  Among  the  same  papers  there  are  several  affidavits  which  uniformly 
assert,  that  the  traders  of  New  England  were  extremely  active  in  fomenting 
and  supporting  the  rebellion.  A  person  who  was  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Boston  ambassador,  was  extremely  active  among  the  late  regulators  in  North 
Carolina.  The  masters  and  sailors  of  the  ships  of  New  England,  were  equally 
instrumental  in  promoting  the  more  recent  disturbances  in  the  province." 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  237 

Which  facts  are  followed  up  by  this  ?age  reflection :     "  Mankind  should  make   CHAP. 
a  common  cause  against  a  people  whose  rooted  principles  necessarily  incite  ^x-v^/ 
them  to  disturb  the  repose  of  their  neighbours."* 

In  the  progress  of  these  events,  it  appears  that  the  lords  proprietors  fur 
nished  to  the  committee  of  foreign  plantations,  a  memorial,  which  they  deno 
minate  "  the  case  of  the  commotions  at  Albcmarle ;"  and  in  this,  the  first  and 
only  plausible  charge  made  against  the  colonists  is,  "  Encouraging  the  New 
England  trade  there."  "  The  illness  of  the  harbour,"  (they  observe,)  "  was 
the  cause  that  this  northern  part  of  Carolina  had  no  other  vent  for  their  com 
modities,  but  either  by  Virginia,  ivhere  they  paid  a  duty  to  the  governor,  or  to 
New  England,  who  were  the  only  immediate  traders,  who  ventured  in  small 
vessels,  and  had  so  managed  their  affairs  that  they  bought  their  goods  at  very 
low  rates,  eat  out  and  ruined  the  place,  defrauded  the  king  of  his  customs,  and 
yet  governed  the  people  against  their  own  interests." 

It  is  not  a  little  surprising  that  the  historian  of  North  Carolina  should 
have  received  this  account,  reiterated  as  it  is  by  Chalmers,  as  an  indisputable 
view  of  facts.  Surely,  on  the  subject  of  selling  and  buying  to  the  most  advan 
tage,  a  people  may  be  trusted  to  their  own  judgment;  though  they  should  be' 
obliged  on  all  others,  to  surrender  their  judgments  to  rulers,  whose  interests 
clash  with  those  of  the  community,  or  whose  minds  are  biassed  by  malevolent 
or  interested  representations. 

Of  the  temper  which  prevailed  in  South  Carolina  on  the  subject  of  these 
colonial  restrictions,  there  is. sufficient  evidence  furnished  from  the  records  of 
the  board  of  trade.  In  1687,  the  officer  of  the  crown  established  at  Charles- 
town  to  execute  the  trade-laws  of  Great  Britain,  writes  to  the  commissioners 
of  the  customs  in  England,  "  that  he  despaired  of  succeeding  in  enforcing  the 
revenue  laws,  as  the  people  denied  the  power  of  parliament  to  pass  laws  incon 
sistent  with  their  charter."f  The  commissioners  of  die  customs  also  actually 
complained  to  the  lords  proprietors  of  the  mutinous  temper  of  the  people  of 
Carolina;  and  they,  far  from  disavowing  it,  could  only  profess  that  it  received 
no  countenance  or  support  from  themselves. 

Yet  in  South  Carolina  the  opposition  must  have  been  founded  on  principle 
and  anticipation ;  since  the  effects  of  the  colonial  regulations  must  have  borne 
at  that  time,  very  lightly  upon  this  colony.  The  country  had  been  very  re 
cently  settled;  all  their  time  and  labour  had  been  consumed  in  felling  the 
forests,  or  constructing  their  houses ;  while  the  daily  hostilities  of  the  Indians 


»  Carolina  Papers,  and  Chalmers,  558,  55?.  t  llth  April  1G87. 


238  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CFIAP.  and  the  Spaniards  left  them  little  tranquillity  to  till  their  fields.     Thus  their 
X^v^x  exports  were  trifling,  and  their  subsistence  depended  chiefly  upon  credits  ob 
tained  in  England. 

From  the  year  1692  the  southern  colony  was  continually  convulsed  by  the 
struggles  of  party.  The  lords  proprietors  asserted  the  right  to  govern,  without 
either  the  power  or  will  to  protect, — at  least  against  the  encroachments  of  par 
liament  ;  and  the  colonists,  indignant  at  remaining  the  servants  of  sen  ants, 
sighed  after  the  imaginary  advantages  of  becoming  a  royal  province.  The 
loss  of  mutual  confidence  was  soon  followed  by  mutual  reproaches;  and  every 
thing  was  matured  for  an  effort  to  put  down  the  proprietary  authority  for 
ever. 

In  their  desire  to  throw  off  the  proprietary  government,  die  colonists  were 

encouraged  at  this  time  by  the  avowed  inclination  of  die  crown  to  bring  all 

the  colonies  immediately  under  its  own  jurisdiction.  As  early  as  1686,  the  pro- 

4  prietors  had  been  threatened  with  a  quo  warranto  to  repeal  their  charter;*  but 

James  II.,  who  was  then  on  the  throne,  getting  soon  after  embroiled  both  with 

church  and  state,  found  all  his  cares  necessary  to  resist  the  quo  warrantos  which 

•soon  after  excluded  him  from  his  throne  and  kingdom. 

In  Great  Britain,  the  distinction  into  court  and  country  party,  which  suc 
ceeded  that  of  cavalier  and  roundhead,  had  now  been  superceded  by  that  of 
tory  and  whig.  The  latter  professed  to  be  the  sturdy  defenders  of  old  English 
rights ;  and  the  name  was  given  them  by  then*  opponents,  from  a  supposed 
analogy  between  their  tenets  and  those  of  die  conventiclers  of  Scotland,  who 
were  then  distinguished  03-  that  epithet  in  ridicule.  The  whigs  after  awhile, 
cheerfully  took  the  name ;  but  fastened  on  their  adversaries  in  return  an  epi 
thet  altogether  expressive  of  contempt ;  as  it  is  said  to  have  been  the  distin 
guishing  epithet  of  a  very  degraded  class  of  people  in  Ireland,  then  called 
popish  banditti.^  It  is  not  then  surprising  that  the  royalists,  whose  tenets  led 
them  to  the  uniform  support  of  monarchical  power,  should  never  cordially 
have  received  a  name  which  bore  with  it  nothing  but  an  expression  of  con 
tempt.  Names  are  often  decisive  of  the  fate  of  parties,  or  at  least  have  a 
great  influence  on  their  destinies.  -  There  was  always  a  disposition  in  the 
colonies  to  mimic  the  mother  country — a  disposition  which  two  successive 
wars  have  not  yet  overcome ;  and  the  tenets,  and  names,  and  even  measures 
of  party,  soon  found  their  way  across  the  Atlantic. 


Chalmers,  p.  565.  .  t  Hurae,  vol.  8,  p.  126. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  239 

In  the  struggle  which  terminated  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Fundamental  "CHAP! 
Constitutions,  we  have  seen  the  country  party  predominate ;  but  it  is  ever  the  ^^^^/ 
tendency  of  a  predominant  party  to  work  its  own  destruction.  The  efforts  of 
a  minority  are  easily  directed  towards  the  one  great  object  of  all,  viz.  to  pro 
duce  the  downfall  of  their  adversaries ;  but  scarcely  do  they  find  themselves  in 
the  seat  of  power,  before  their  views  begin  to  diverge ;  and  it  is  too  often 
discovered  that,  whatever  may  have  been  the  views  of  the  followers,  their 
leaders  were  animated  by  other  motives  than  mere  public  spirit.  They  get 
embroiled  about  the  loaves  and  fishes  of  government.  Nor  is  the  operation  of 
the  same  cause  unfelt  among  the  mass  of  the  party;  for  all  expect  to  be  re 
warded,  and  few  can  be;  and  of  those  that  arc,  very  few  can  be  persuaded 
that  then-  reward  is  apportioned  to  their  merit.  Hence,  discontent,  defection, 
dissolution.  Accordingly,  we  soon  find  the  country  party  in  the  southern 
colony  put  out  of  power ;  and  their  opponents,  taught  by  experience,  perfas  ct 
nef  as  securing  to  themselves  that  power  which  they  could  not  long  expect  to 
hold  from  a  vote  of  the  people. 

An  event  occurred  about  this  time  which  was  well  calculated  to  deprive  the 
country  party  of  much  of  their  popularity. 

Henry  of  Bearne,  almost  the  only  monarch  on  record  since  the  days  of 
Alfred,  of  whom  it  can  be  truly  said  that  he  loved  his  people,  and  who  had 
acted  the  hypocrite,  (a  character  totally  opposite  to  his  real  one,)  the  more 
effectually  to  serve  them ;  had  secured  to  the  people  of  France  complete  reli 
gious  freedom,  but  had  not  given  them  sufficient  civil  power  to  preserve  it. 
This  was  in  the  year  1593.  And  the  town  of  Nantz,  at  which  the  edict  was 
issued,  gave  name  to  this  magna  charta  of  the  French  protestants.  Lewis 
XIV.,  who  has  been  more  eulogized  than  any  monarch  in  Europe,  because  he 
held  half  the  pens  of  Europe  in  actual  pay  ;*  but  who  really  lived  only  to 
disturb  his  neighbours,  and  exhaust  the  wealth,  while  he  corrupted  the  morals, 
of  his  people;  arbitrarily  revoked  this  edict — at  the  instigation  of  an  envious 
and  ambitious  priesthood.  This  was  in  the  year  1G85;  and  from  that  day. 
victory  deserted  his  standard,  his  glory  commenced  its  decline,  and  domestic 
misfortune  clouded  liis  court  with  sorrow.  Yet  the  evil  did  not  rest  here;  it 
was  not  the  revocation  of  that  edict  alone  which  drove  from  his  realm  500,000 
of  his  most  industrious  subjects.  In  the  secret  converse  with  their  God,  his 


*  "  On  Lewis  all  his  bards  bestowM 
Of  flattery  many  a  thousand  load ; 
But  Europe  mortified  his  pride, 
And  swore  the  fawning  rascals  lied." — SWIVT. 


240  ^  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   votaries  might  still  have  found  consolation  for  the  want  of  liberty  to  convene 
his  temples;  but  the  shafts  of  religious  persecution  are  as  cruel  as  the  arrows 
of  the  children  of  Latona.     The  tears  of  a  parent  cannot  stay  them,  while 
diere  is  a  victim  surviving.     The  revocation  of  die  edict  was  followed  up  by 
a  positive  injunction,   that  die  protestants  should  conform   to  the   Roman 
catholic  religion,  under  die  dreadful  penalties  of  heresy, — to  be  inflicted  by  an 
infuriate  priesthood.    Nor  did  the  persecution  stop  here ;  permission  was  given 
to  tear  from  them  their  children,  in  order  that  they  might  be  educated  good 
.  -catholics. 

.  In  all  directions  a  disposition  was  manifested  by  the  protestants  to  fly.  The 
Colignis  and  the  Condes  were  no  more ;  or  the  power  of  die  monarch  was  too 
overwhelming  to  admit  of  an  effort  at  insurrection.  Yet  the  victims  were  not 
suffered  to  escape ;  for  the  persecution  has  acquired  the  epithet  of  the  "  drago- 
nade,"  from  the  use  that  was  made  of  dragoons  to  pursue  the  fugitives  or  cut 
off  their  escape  out  of  die  territories  of  dieir  fanatical  monarch.  Yet  many 
of  them  got  over  into  die  neighbouring  kingdoms ;  and  after  lingering  in  the 
neighbourhood  some  months  in  order  to  withdraw  then*  effects  from  France, 
and,  no  doubt,  with  the  fond  hope  that  their  monarch  would  yield  to  wiser 
counsels,  many  of  them  followed  die  impulse  of  emigration,  to  the  North 
American  colonies.  Some  few,  who  appear  to  have  been  men  of  property, 
arrived  in  Carolina  as  early  as  1687;  and  in  the  year  1690,  a  considerable 
colony  having  been  transported  by  King  William  to  die  banks  of  James 
River,  a  number  of  these  soon  sought  out  and  joined  their  countrymen  in 
the  southern  colony.  Others  again  who  had  landed  in  the  more  northern 
states  removed  southwardly ;  and  by  their  union  was  a  most  respectable 
settlement  formed  along  the  banks  of  the  Santee,  (the  original  destination 
of  Ribaut,)  and  between  that  river  and  the  head  waters  of  Cooper.  Lands 
were  granted  them,  with  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion ;  they  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  and  for  awhile  every  thing 
promised  them  rest  and  comfort  in  their  new  abode.  But  nationil  jealousy 
soon  arose  to  dash  the  cup  of  blessing  from  dieir  lips.  The  colonists  took 
alarm  at  this  exercise  of  proprietary  legislation  ;  began  to  question  the  powers 
of  the  lords  proprietors  to  vest  aliens  with  the  rights  of  natural  born  subjects; 
to  qualify  them  to  hold  descendible  estates,  or  to  participate  in  the  exercise  of 
the  sovereign  rights  of  natural  born  subjects.  And  the  unfortunate  Hugonots 
were  violently  excluded  from  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  alarmed  with  the  sug 
gestion  diat  their  children  would  not  inherit  from  them,  but  that  their  estates 
must  escheat. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  , 

The  state  of  confusion  was  now  so  great  in  the  colony,  that  the  lorcta  pro-  CHAP. 
prietors  were  obliged  to  send  over  one  of  their  number,  Mr.  John  Archdale,  v^-^^ 
with  ample  powers  to  settle  all  differences,  and  strong  injunctions  to  admit  the 
French  protestants  to  a  just  participation  in  the  rights  of  subjects.  Archdale 
is  acknowledged  to  have  been  a  man  of  understanding,  and  of  great  liberality 
and  personal  worth,  and  he  was,  in  a  great  measure,  successful  in  allaying  the 
ferment  prevailing  in  the  colony.  Being  a  quakcr  by  religious  profession,  he 
cannot  be  suspected  of  having  been  opposed  to  the  execution  of  his  instructions 
in  favour  of  the  Hugonots.  Yet  so  strong  was  the  current  of  popular  preju 
dice,  that  he  did  not  dare  to  oppose  it ;  but,  in  issuing  his  writs  of  election  for 
a  new  house  of  delegates,  wholly  omitted  the  county  called  Berkeley,  in  which 
the  French  settlers  principally  resided.  The  quiet  acquiescence  of  the  people 
in  this  discrimination,  too  plainly  shows  that  the  popular  party  had  coincided 
with  their  antagonists  in  the  shameful  exclusion,  and  such  a  dereliction  of  prin 
ciple  was  justly  followed  by  a  loss  of  public  confidence.  Accordingly  we  find 
the  parties  about  tliis  time  nearly  balanced,  and  obliged  by  mutual  concessions 
to  obtain  the  favourite  ends  of  each. 

Archdale  remained  but  a  short  time  in  the  colony,  and  on  his  return  to  Eng 
land,  presented  a  very  unfavourable  account  of  its  state  to  the  lords  proprietors. 
Yet  he  did  so  much  towards  allaying  party-animosities,  that  his  successor,  John 
Blake,  who  was  a  dissenter,  was  enabled  to  obtain  of  the  assembly,  *  at  the 
price  of  making  public  provision  for  the  establishment  of  an  episcopal  minister 
in  Charleston,'  "  An  act  for  making  aliens  free  of  this  part  of  the  province, 
and  for  granting  liberty  of  conscience  to  all  protestants."* 

Here  also  we  see  another  step  of  the  colony  towards  a  state  of  political  free 
dom,  notwithstanding  it  was  exercised  in  such  unfortunate  measures.  For, 
this  compromise  proves,  both  that  they  had  seized  or  possessed  the  purse- 
strings  of  the  province,  and  that  they  had  triumphed  in  denying  to  the  lords 
proprietors  the  power  of  conferring  religious  freedom  without  their  concur 
rence.  The  inference  is  obvious.  Their  opposition  had  been  founded  on  the 
proprietary  exercise  of  legislative  power.  The  emigrants  might  be  vested 
with  political  and  religious  liberty,  but  it  must  be  granted  by  the  people. 

But  the  Hugonots  appear  to  have  deeply  resented  the  injury  supposed  to 
have  been  received  from  those  on  whose  protection  they  ought  to  have  been 
able  to  rely.  For  at  a  subsequent  election  the  royalists  triumphed;  and  in  a 
representation  of  the  dissenters,  against  the  violence  of  the  church  party,  made 


•  See  the  two  acts  passed  on  the  same  day. 

31 


242  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

.        • 

__CHAP.  to  the  lords  proprietors,  it  is  expressly  declared  that  they  were  supported  by  the 
^*~v^s  French  from  Berkeley  and  Craven  county.* 

Blake's  administration,  which  lasted  from  1696  to  his  death  in  1700,  was  a 
season  of  political  calm.  Yet  it  was  only  by  a  succession  of  calamities  that  the 
bickerings  of  party  were  suspended ;  the  embers  were  covered,  not  extin 
guished.  The  town  was  first  inundated  by  a  hurricane,  then  consumed  by 
fire,  wliilst  the  small-pox,  now  viewed  without  alarm,  but  then  with  horror, 
spread  death  and  desolation  throughout  the  colony.  Bad  treatment  rendered 
it  fatal  in  its  effects,  and  more  patients  fell  victims  to  medicine,  than  to  disease. 
Scarcely  had  the  colonists  breathed  from  these  evils,  when  a  pestilential  disease 
broke  out  in  die  city;  and  among  numerous  other  victims,  swept  off  nearly 
ah1  the  public  officers,  and  one  half  of  the  legislature. 

The  spirit  of  opposition  did  not  wholly  sink  under  the  pressure  of  these  accu 
mulated  calamities.  A  new  system  of  fundamental  laws  was  sent  out  by  the 
proprietors,  and  by  die  governor  transmitted  to  the  assembly,  with  his  instruc 
tions  to  put  them  in  execution;  but  that  body,  manifesting  their  firmness  by 
their  coolness,  simply  took  no  notice  of  the  message,  and  the  system  fell  "  still 
born"  to  the  earth.  Soon  after,  it  became  a  question  who  should  appoint  to 
the  vacancies  in  the  public  offices  occasioned  by  the  death  of  the  late  incum 
bents.  The  governor  and  council  claimed  die  right  as  the  representatives  of 
the  proprietors,  and  the  assembly  claimed  it  as  the  representatives  of  the  people. 
The  governor  and  council  elected  their  man  to  the  office  of  public  receiver, 
and  the  assembly  forbad  any  one's  making  him  payments.  The  contest  grew 
warm,  and  was  not  a  little  irritated  by  questions  of  dignity  and  precedence 
which  now  began  to  mingle  with  it.  The  governor  and  council  had  arrogated 
the  name  of  the  upper  house,  and  the  assembly  of  delegates  was  resolved  to 
admit  of  no  distinction  that  implied  inferiority  in  them.  The  people  sided 
with  the  assembly,  and  they  enjoyed  a  temporary  triumph.  But  all  these  acts 
were  disapproved  of  and  rescinded  by  die  proprietors;  and  a  jealousy  of  the 
views  of  the  people  was  excited  in  the  breasts  of  those  gentlemen,  which  had 
great  influence  upon  their  subsequent  conduct. 

The  year  1700  was  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  violence  in  South 
Carolina,  and  it  was  soon  followed  by  that  of  bigotry  and  church  usurpation. 
The  events  of  it  are  authenticated  under  die  signature  of  some  of  the  most  res 
pectable  men  of  the  colony,  and  are  connected  with  English  history. 


*  See  Oldmixon,  vol.  1.  p.  333. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  $tt 

William  III.,  who  was  bred  a  Calvinist,  was  ever  the  steady  friend  of  rell-    citAP. 
gious  freedom.     One  of  his  first  efforts  after  being  seated  on  the  throne  of  Vw^->/~^ 
England,  was  to  mitigate  the  disabilities  imposed  on  dissenters  by  that  disgrace 
of  British  freedom,  the  celebrated  test-act. 

But  this  did  not  suit  the  taste  or  interests  of  the  British  hierarchy ;  and  with 
real  or  affected  alarm,  they  sounded  throughout  the  kingdom,  "  that  the  church 
was  in  danger."  To  convince  the  nation  that  they  were  in  earnest,  the  bishops 
withdrew  from  parliament,  nor  did  they  cease  from  their  efforts  at  organizing 
an  opposition,  until  they  were  obliged  by  law  to  submit, — or  lose  their  partici 
pation  in  the  goods  of  this  world.* 

William  had  been  placed  on  the  throne  principally  by  the  influence  of  the 
whig  party,  and  all  his  measures  at  the  commencement  of  his  reign,  exhibited 
a  disposition  to  cast  himself  on  their  protection.  But  this  could  not  possibly 
last  long.  Whatever  affairs  of  posts  this  party  may  have  been  occasionally 
engaged  in,  their  grand  attack  was  upon  royal  prerogative.  This  may  ope 
rate  on  the  fears  or  policy  of  a  monarch,  but  never  can  command  his  affections ; 
much  less  the  cordial  attachment  of  a  monarch  like  William,  who  was  really 
haughty  and  ambitious,  though  sometimes  politic ;  and  said  to  have  been  more 
disposed  to  consult  his  own  passions,  or  die  interests  of  the  Netherlands,  than 
die  inclinations  or  interests  of  the  British  nation.  Before  the  end  of  his  reign, 
he  was  completely  estranged  from  the  whigs,  by  their  steady  adherence  to  the 
system  of  salutary  restraints ;  and  openly  espoused  the  opposite  party. 

The  first  act  of  his  successor,  Anne,  who  ascended  the  throne  the  8th  March 
1701,  was  to  throw  herself  unequivocally  into  the  arms  of  the  torics.  Every 
office  was  filled  with  their  leaders,  and,  respecting  the  first  parliament  that  she 
convened,  we  will  quote  the  words  of  the  English  historian.  "  The  commons 
of  this  parliament  had  nothing  more  at  heart  than  a  bill  against  occasional 
conformists.  The  lories  affected  to  distinguish  themselves  as  the  only  true 
friends  to  the  church  and  monarch}-;  and  they  hated  the  dissenters  with  a 
mixture  of  spiritual  and  political  disgust.  They  looked  upon  these  last  as  an 
intruding  sect,  which  constituted  a  great  part  of  the  whig  faction."  "  They 
considered  them  as  encroaching  schismatics,  that  disgraced  and  endangered 
the  hierarchy;  and  those  of  their  own  communion  who  recommended  mode 
ration,  they  branded  with  the  epithets  of  lukewarm  Christians,  betrayers  and 
apostates.  They  now  resolved  to  approve  themselves  zealous  sons  of  the 


»  Smollet,  vol.  1.  b.  I.  s.  7- 


-H,  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

c?ilP*  .cnurcn  by  seizing  tlie  first  opportunity  that  was  in  their  power  to  distress  the 

-^VJ^/  dissenters,"  Sec.* 

.  The  occasional  conformists,  as  they  were  at  that  time  called,  were  dissent 

ers  who,  to  qualify  themselves  for  office,  had  complied  with  all  the  requisites 

9  of  the  test-act,  but  immediately  returned  to  the  worship  of  God  in  the  mode 
^  .  which  each  one  thought  most  consistent  with  his  will.  Against  these  evaders 
of  a  law,  which,  notwithstanding  its  high  pretensions,  was  really  dictated  by 
thc  most  sordid  motives,  was  the  wrath  of  the  disappointed  and  eluded  tories 
particularly  excited ;  and  it  is  further  said  of  them,  "that  as  the  last  reign 
began  with  an  act  in  favour  of  the  dissenters,  so  the  commons  were  desirous 
that  in  the  beginning  of  her  majesty's  auspicious  government  an  act  should 
pass  hi  favour  of  die  church  of  England." 

Nor  was  it  only  among  the  laity,  that  party  animosity  raged.     The  queen 

summoned- a  convocation  of  die  ecclesiastical  clergy  in  the  year  1702 and 

here  die  violence  of  party  exhibited  itself  to  the  most  indecent  degree.  All  the 
clergy  of  the  kingdom  became,  in  consequence  of  diis  meeting,  divided  into 
two  parties,  denominated  high  churchmen  and  low  churchmen,  of  whom  an 
English  historian  furnishes  us  with  the  following  account :  "These  contests 
produced  divisions  dirough  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy,  who  ranged  them 
selves  in  different  factions,  distinguished  by  the  names  of  high  church  and  low 
church.  The  first  consisted  of  ecclesiastical  tories,  die  other  included  diose 
who  professed  revolution  principles,  and  recommended  moderation  towards 
the  dissenters.  The  high  church  party  reproached  the  other  as  time-servers 
and  presbyterians  in  disguise,  and  were,  in  then*  turn,  stigmatised  as  the  friends 
and  abettors  of  tyranny  and  persecution ;  at  present,  however,  the  tories  both 
in  church  and  state,  triumphed  in  die  favour  of  dieir  sovereign."! 

The  effects  of  this  triumph  were  soon  felt  in  the  little  colony  of  South 
Carolina. 

John  Granville,  a  proprietor,  and  at  diat  time  palatine  of  Carolina,  had 
been  conspicuous  in  the  British  parliament  in  promoting  die  proposed  bill 
against  occasional  conformists.  His  zeal  as  a  leader  of  the  tory  faction  had 
already  procured  him  a  seat  in  die  privy  council,  and  this  new  proof  his  perse 
cuting  principles  procured  him  a  peerage  under  die  dtle  of  Baron  Granville  of 
Potheridge.J  Under  the  patronage  and  advice  of  this  fanatic  it  was,  that  in 
die  year  1703,  die  church  of  England  became  the  established  church  of  South 
Carolina,  and  that  the  infamous  test-act  became  incorporated  into  the  laws  of 


*  Sraollet,  vol.  1.  b.  1.  s.  29.  f  Ibid.  vol.  t.  p.  450.  J  Ibid.  b.  1.  s.  2.J. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENJE.  245 

that  province.     And,  in  his  pious  purposes,  he  was  aided  by  a  society  which  CHAP. 
masked  an  attack  upon  religious  freedom  under  the  specious  pretext  ofproniot-  ^^^^ 
ing  religion.     How  oflen  has  that  sacred  name  been  polluted  by  the  avarice  or 
ambition  of  man!     But  he  is  no  friend  to  religion  who  will  tempt  man  to 
hypocricy,  deprive  liim  of  the  sacred  right  of  conscience,  or  withdraw  the 
oracles  of  the  Christian  religion  from  the  severest  scrutiny  that  the  human 
mind  can  subject  it  to. 

This  society  was  incorporated  in  William's  reign,  at  the  instance  of  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  by  die  name  of  "  A  Society  for  propagating  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts."  It  acquired  much  eclat  in  the  early  establishment 
of  the  British  colonies,  and  has  unquestionably  done  good  enough  to  atone  for 
many  faults.  But,  if  actions  arc  to  be  estimated  by  motives,  then,  as  far  as  it 
is  justly  chargeable  with  simply  promoting  a  sect,  and  that  under  the  terrors  of 
.temporal  power,  it  cannot  pretend  to  the  high  meed  of  promoting  the  service 
of  God.  It  is  the  service  of  man  and  of  a  sect ;  and  not  of  Him  to  whom 
nothing  but  the  sacrifice  of  a  willing  heart  can  be  acceptable ;  and  who,  hav 
ing  given  conscience  and  reason  to  man,  must  see  his  purposes  thwarted  and 
his  service  profaned,  whenever  one  sect  shall,  in  his  name,  deprive  another  of 
the  free  exercise  of  those  noblest  attributes  of  beings  created  to  serve  him. 

The  historian  Hewit  says,  "  to  prepare  the  province  for  the  charitable  assist 
ance  of  this  society,  it  was  judged  necessary  to  have  the  church  of  England 
established  in  it  by  a  provincial  law,  and  the  country  diviued  into  distinct 
parishes."  "  He  [the  palatine]  knew  that  the  episcopal  form  of  church  gov 
ernment  was  more  favourable  to  monarchy  and  the  civil  constitution,  than  the 
presbyterian,  as,  in  it,  a  chain  of  dependancc  subsists  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,"  Sec. 

The  author  does  not  favour  us  with  the  authority  upon  which  he  founds  that 
information,  but  the  concurrence  of  events  supports  his  assertion.  It  has  never 
been  denied,  and  is  repeated  by  Ramsay  as  an  unquestionable  fact,  that  the 
creation  of  that  society  was  the  first  step  towards  the  establishment  of  the 
episcopal  church  in  South  Carolina. 

The  instrument  and  the  means  made  use  of  to  effectuate  this  project  were 
worthy  of  the  end.  Of  the  times  in  which  the  episcopal  church  was  estab 
lished  in  Carolina,  it  may  be  truly  said,  "  the  land  was  full  of  violence."  The 
following  are  the  facts  attending  it. 

It  took  place  under  the  administration  of  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  and  his 
prime  agents  appear  to  have  been  James  Moore,  Nicholas  Trott,  and  William 
Rhett  The  cotemporarics  of  these  gentlemen  have  handled  their  character^ 


246  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  and  conduct  with  great  severity;*  but  whoever  considers  the  demoralizing 
s^-v-^x  influence  of  party  rancour,  will  receive  with  great  precaution  whatever  issues 
from  so  impure  a  source.  It  seems,  however,  generally  maintained,  that  by 
bribery,  intoxication,  intrigue,  and  judicial  protection,  (for  Moore  was  attorney 
general,  and.  Trott  chief  justice,  and  the  only  judge  in  the  state,)  they  suc 
ceeded,  in  the  year  1703,  in  obtaining  a  lean  majority  of  one  in  the  house  of 
assembly ;  and  by  that  one  fastened  on  the  country, 

1st.  An  act  entitled  "  An  act  for  the  more  effectual  suppressing  of  blasphemy 
and  profaneness,"  (but  really  calculated  to  establish  an  inquisitorial  inquiry 
into  religious  opinions.) 

2dly.  "  An  act  for  the- more  effectual  preservation  of  the  government  of  the 
province  by  requiring  all" persons  that  shall  hereafter  be  chosen  members  of  the 
commons-house  of  assembly  and  sit  in  the  same,  to  take  the  oaths  and  sub 
scribe  the  declaration  appointed  by  this  act,  and  to  conform  to  the  religious 
worship  in  this  province  according  to  the  church  of  England  and  receive  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper,  according  to  the  rights  and  usages  of  the  said 
church."  (Which  is  the  English  test-act.) 

Sdly.  "  An  act  for  the  establishment  of  religious  worship  in  this  province 
according  to  the  church  of  England,  and  for  the  erecting  of  churches  for  the 
public  worship  of  God,  and  also  for  the  maintenance  of  ministers,  and  building 
convenient  places  for  them."  And, 

4thly.  To  give  the  "  coup  de  grace"  to  civil  and  religious  liberty,)  "  An  act 
for  the  continuing,  meeting  and  sitting  of  this  present  assembly  for  the  space 
of  two  years  and  for  the  term  and  time  of  eighteen  months  after  the  change 
of  government  by  the  death  of  the  present  governor,  or  the  succession  of  ano 
ther  in  his  lifetime." 

The  term  of  service  for  which  elections  then  took  place  was  two  years,  and 
their  term  of  service  was  within  a  few  days  of  expiring  when  this  last  act  of 
usurpation  was  passed;  and  its  preamble  contains  an  explicit  exposition  of  the 
views  and  influence  under  which  it  was  adopted.  "  Whereas  the  church  of 
England  has  of  late  been  so  happily  established  imong  them,  fearing  by  the 
succession  of  a  new  governor  the  Church  may  be  entirely  undermined,  or  wholly 
subverted,  to  prevent  that  calamity  befalling  them,  be  it  enacted,"  &c. 

Thus  did  the  church  of  England  triumph  over  the  liberties  of  Carolina ; — a 
triumph  which  it  continued  to  enjoy,  with  some  little  limitation,  even  down  to 
the  revolution;  for  as  late  as  April  1770,  we  find  the  resources  of  the  state, 


Hewit  and  O'.dmixon. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  241? 

levied  alike  upon  Jew  and  gentile,  upon  dissenter  and  episcopalian,  diverted   CHAP. 
to  the  building  of  episcopal  churches  and  maintenance  of  episcopal  ministers,  ^x-v-^ 
When  did  ever  a  sect  acquire  power,  without  blending  temporal  views  with 
spiritual  instruction ! 

Yet  these  zealous  measures  of  "  the  sons  of  the  church"  met  not  with  the 
glowing  approbation  from  then-  fathers  abroad,  which  at  first  view  might  have 
been  expected.  They  unfortunately  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  high  church 
faction,  by  a  measure  which  savoured  too  much  of  the  low  church  tenets. 
The  view  given  of  the  occurrence  by  a  cotemporary  writer  is,  "  that  Sir  Na 
thaniel  Johnson  had  ingeniously  succeeded  in  converting  the  republican  party 
into  a  low  church  party."* 

It  will  be  recollected  that  in  the  convocation  of  1 702,  the  lower  house  had 
manifested  a  strong  disposition  to  kick  against  the  legitimate  power  of  their 
dignified  superiors ;  until  frowned  into  submission  by  sovereign  disapprobation. 
The  faction  who  had  seized  the  reins  of  government  in  Carolina  had,  most 
undutifully,  adopted  the  heterodox  notion,  that  by  establishing  and  supporting 
the  clergy  of  die  church  of  England,  their  congregations  acquired  a  right  to 
install  and  dismiss  them.  But  this  was  a  direct  encroachment  upon  the  power 
of  die  bishop  of  London,  in  whose  diocess  ah1  the  churches  in  North  America 
were  included  ;  for  he  claimed  the  right  to  induct  and  to  dismiss.  And  this 
usurpation,  (not  those  upon  the  rights  of  the  people  of  the  province,)  drew 
upon  the  party  the  frown  of  power;  a  consequence  which  they  foresaw  might 
follow,  and  might  produce  the  dismission  of  die  governor  and  deputies,  and 
therefore  vested  themselves  with  legislative  powers  for  eighteen  months  after 
such  a  change  of  rulers,  if  it  should  take  place. 

The  Society  for  propagating  die  Gospel  also  took  the  alarm  at  this  attack 
upon  the  hierarchy,  and  refused  to  favour  the  colony  with  any  more  mission 
aries,  or  rather  ministers,  until  they  should  repeal  the  obnoxious  law  which 
asserted  this  heretical  doctrine.  But  it  was  now  too  late;  that  law  was  a 
component  part  of  the  act  for  establishing  die  church  of  England  in  the  pro 
vince;  and  with  all  their  fondness  for  church,  the  party  who  passed  it  were 
unwilling  to  part  with  power;  or  perhaps  were  obliged  to  insist  on  this  sacrifice 
to  the  feelings  of  an  outraged  people.  These  laws  continued  in  force  until 
1706,  when  the  bishop  of  London  was  again  permitted  to  resume  his  powers 
of  acting  by  a  deputy,  called  his  commissary. 


Oldmixon. 


!48  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Very  soon  after  the  passage  of  these  acts,  the  assembly  appears  to  have 
.x-v^^,  repented,  or  become  ashamed  of  its  subserviency  to  the  party  that  carried 
them  through;  and  to  have  passed  an  act  to  repeal  those  obnoxious  laws:*  but 
the  governor  and  council  possessed  a  veto,  and  prevented  then-  repeal.  The 
dissenters  forwarded  a  strong  memorial  against  these  measures  to  the  lords  pro 
prietors,  but  in  vain.  The  fanatic  Granville  declared  they  were  wise  laws,  and 
in  reply  to  the  moderate  counsels  of  Archdale,  avowed  his  resolution  to  support 
them.  Finding  all  efforts  to  obtain  redress  from  that  quarter  utterly  hopeless, 
the  agent  of  the  dissenters  brought  the  subject  before  the  house  of  lords,  who 
espoused  their  cause  in  an  address  to  the  queen.  The  queen,  no  doubt  with  a 
view  to  temporize,  referred  it  to  the  lords  of  trade  and  plantations ;  and  they, 
pursuing  their  system  of  reducing  all  the  colonies  immediately  to  subjection  to 
the  crown,  advised  their  royal  mistress  to  take  the  legal  measures,  to  nullify 
the  charter  of  the  proprietors.  But  Granville  was  at  her  majesty's  elbow,  and 
the  affair  was  soon  dismissed  from  her  thoughts. 

Yet  the  usurpations  of  this  period  appear  to  have  been  altogether  the  result 
of  religious  zeal,  and  (gross  as  were  the  infringements  upon  civil  liberty)  to 
have  had  no  other  object  than  the  secure  establishment  of  the  church  of  Eng 
land,  under  influence  of  the  alarm  excited  by  the  bishops  in  the  preceding 
reign.  As  long  as  a  preponderance  in  the  council  was  preserved  by  the  church 
party,  this  end  was  complete;  for  the  laws  passed  for  that  purpose  could  not 
be  repealed.  And  the  preponderance  soon  after  acquired  by  the  whig  party  in 
the  other  house,  could  only  be  made  use  of  to  obtain  occasional  concessions 
from  the  council  by  laying  their  offerings  upon  the  altars  of  the  church.  At 
length,  however,  on  the  30th  November  1706,  a  general  compromise  took 
place,  and  the  repeal  of  the  test-act  was  purchased  by  the  passage  of  a  church- 
act  divested  of  some  of  the  clauses  which  trenched  upon  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
bishop  of  London.  The  minister  was  made  eligible  by  the  episcopal  inhabit 
ants  of  th£  parish,  but  not  removeable  by  temporal  authority;  and  in  order  to 
raise  his  salary,  every  inhabitant  of  a  parish,  of  whatever  religion  or  denomi 
nation,  was  made  liable  to  an  assessment,  to  be  levied,  (under  the  sanction  of  a 
penalty,)  by  a  board  of  commissioners  constituted  for  that  purpose — whenever 
the  public  treasury  should  be  found  inadequate  to  pay  them.f  Thereby  mak 
ing  the  levying  of  their  salaries  upon  the  people,  independent  even  of  the  legis 
lature  of  the  state. 


OldmixoD,  vol.  1.  p.  361.  t  Trott's  Laws,  p.  127, 129,  et  seg. 


•»  c 

:       MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  249 

Heavily,  as  the  act  perpetuating  the  legislature  of  1703-sS,  bore  at  the  time  CHAP. 
upon  the  liberties  of  the  people,  it  afforded  an  ample  precedent  for  the  assump-  ^^^^ 
tion  of  legislative  powers  by  the  representatives  of  the  people.  Accordingly 
by  refering  to  the  legislative  transactions  of  the  colony  we  find,  that  their 
power  was  extended  in  time  to  most  of  the  popular  subjects  that  come  within 
the  cognizance  of  the  legislature  of  a  free  people.  In  the  year  1712,  they 
passed  a  law  declaring  what  British  statutes  shall  be  held  of  force  in  the  coun 
try,  and  giving  validity  to  the  common  law  of  Great  Britain;  in  1716,  they 
passed  a  general  law  imposing  a  duty  upon  imports  and  exports,  even  so  fai* 
as  to  demand  ten  per  cent,  upon  articles  imported  from  the  mother  country; 
and  in  1721,  they  adopt  the  language  of  the  British  parliament,  in  the  passage 
of  a  law  granting  a  revenue  to  the  king,  "  An  act  for  granting  to  his  majesty 
a  duty  and  imposition  on  negroes,  liquors,  arid  other  goods  and  merchandize 
imported  into,  and  exported  out  of,  this  province." 

Thus  far  the  advance  of  the  colony  from  a  state  of  feudal  subjection  to  that- 
of  an  independent  people,  was  rather  rapid  than  otherwise.  Fifty  years  had 
carried  them  through  the  successive  changes  which  had  required  near  five 
hundred  in  England.  But  some  degrading  badges  still  remained.  All  the 
great  officers  of  state  were  appointed  by,  and  retained  at  the  will  of  the  lords 
proprietors,  and  the  province  was  held  as  a  property ',  and  the  inhabitants  re 
garded  only  as  the  cultivators  of  the  lands  of  another.  The  conduct  of  the  - 
lords  proprietors  towards  them  also,  was  that  of  sordid  landlords;  or  rather  of, 
what  they  proposed  originally  to  render  themselves,  the  lords  of  a  colony  of 
serfs,  or  villains.  Never  regarding  themselves  as  the  dignified  patrons  of  a 
rising  state,  their  sole  object  was  to  create  a  property,  and  not  to  promote  the 
interests  of  a  colony.  They  claimed  to  themselves  much  credit  for  their 
advances  to  the  colonists  in  then-  first  emigration ;  but  it  was  only  the  advance 
of  a  merchant  to  a  customer:  for  the  individual  or  the  colony  was  made  debtor 
to  the  proprietors.  To  defend  the  colony  from  attack,  they  never  seem  to 
have  ranked  among  their  duties;  and  as  the  crown  had  surrendered  all  right 
to  interfere  with  the  internal  concerns  of  the  colony,  (except  to  levy  imposts 
or  duties,  it  would,  seem,)  the  people  were  left  wholly  to  their  own  protection, 
by  masters,  who  still  asserted  their  right  to  govern  them,  and  who  addressed 
all  their  efforts  to  drawing  from  them  an  income,  which  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  pay,  whilst  all  their  resources  were  withdrawn  to  the  defence  of  the 
colony,  or  the  maintenance  of  die  officers  set  over  them  by  the  proprietors. 

From  die  earliest  settlement  of  the  province  the  whig  party  had  writhed 
under  the  proprietary  institutions,  and  were  ever  ready  to  join  in  an  effort  to 
overturn  this  offensive  system.  But,  restrained  by  the  power  and  influence  of 

32 


250  -  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  the  government ;  with  their  wealth  and  their  cares  for  ever  pre-occupied  by 
defence  of  the  province,  or  the  maintenance  of  their  families;  under  the 
pressure  of  poverty,  or  the  ravages  of  disease ;  they  had  been  able  hitherto 
to  advance  only  with  a  slow  and  cautions  step  towards  the  attainment  of  their 
views. 

AV  length,  about  the  year  1716,  a  variety  of  events  occurred,  to  unite  all 
pardes  in  the  state  in  one  great,  and  ultimately  successful  effort  to  throw  off  the 
yoke  of  the  proprietors.  A  governor  was  found  in  the  person  of  Robert 
Daniel  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  people ;  as  were  several  deputies  of  the 
proprietors,  of  sufficient  independence  to  join  in  a  remonstrance  in  their  behalf. 

Wars  witli  the  Spaniards,  the  French,  and  the  Indians,  had  involved  the 
colony  deeply  in  debt;  and  to  find  an  expedient  for  present  relief,  they  had 
been  driven  to  the  measure  of  emitting  bills  of  credit — resting  for  their  value 

O  O 

upon  mere  national  faith.  The  evil  of  course  grew  upon  them,  for  the  draft 
.only  irritated  die  thirst  it  was  intended  to  allay.  At  length,  in  the  spring  of 
the  year  1715,  the  colony  was  brought  to  the  brink  of  ruin  by  the  sudden 
incursion  of  a  bloody  and  formidable  enemy.  A  league  of  the  surrounding 
Indians,  (then  very  numerous,)  promoted  by  the  Spaniards,  and  headed  by  the 
formidable  tribe  of  the  Yamasces,  poured,  in  a  torrent,  upon  the  secure  and 
defenceless  planters,  and  laid  the  whole  province  in  flames  and  ruin.  In  the 
course  of  three  days,  four  hundred  inhabitants  were  swept  nway,  every  plan 
tation  broken  up  or  deserted,  and  the  whole  population  of  the  province  driven 
for  security  within  the  entrenchments  of  Charlestown.  Their  governor, 
Charles  Craven,  conducted  himself  with  exemplary  prudence  and  bravery ; 
and  not  only  repelled  the  invaders,  but  inflicted  on  them  a  chastisement  from 
which  they  never  recovered.  But  the  invasion  had  happened  at  a  season  that 
was  fatal  to  the  crops  of  the  year,  and  the  families  of  the  colonists  must  perish, 
or  provision  be  procured,  at  whatever  hazard  or  expense.  Impoverished,  and 
still  distressed  by  scalping  parties  of  their  enemy,  the  colonists  solicited  relief 
from  the  proprietors;  but  so  far  were  these  hard  task-masters  from  affording 
it,  that  they  conducted  themselves  towards  the  petitioners  with  illiberality  and 
meanness. 

By  the  expulsion  of  the  Yamasees,  a  very  fine  country  was  left  open  to 
adventurous  settlers.  It  is  that  which  lies, in  the  south-western  part  of  the  state 
of  South  Carolina,  and  is  now  so  justly  celebrated  for  its  productions  of  rice 
and  sea-island  cotton.  It  was  then,  and  is  now  by  the  aged,  called  Indian 
land.  Considering  this  as  an  acquisition  won  by  their  own  personal  valour, 
the  colonists,  with  a  disinterestedness  and  prudence  greatly  to  their  reputation, 
resolved  to  devote  it  to  the  purpose,  of  establisliing  a  frontier  settlement  that 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  25] 

Would  defend  die  interior  of  the  colony  against  future  inroads  of  the  savages;    CHAP. 
who,  though  driven  beyond  the  Savannah  River,  were  very  numerous ;  and  ^-^-*- 
from  them  continual  irruptions  might  be  expected  as  from  an  enemy,  recently 
driven  from  his  country,  exasperated  by  defeat,  and  excited  by  the  Spaniards. 

Five  hundred  of  the  brave  and  hardy  yeomanry  of  Ireland  immediately, 
embraced  this  opportunity  of  improving  their  condition,  and  volunteered  to 
encounter  die  dangers  attending  it,  in  consideration  of  the  grant  of  moderate 
tracts  of  the  conquered  territory.  Yet,  scarcely  had  they  seated  themselves  in  • 
their  new  acquirements,  and  exhausted  their  little  stores  in  the  first  expenses  of 
such  establishments,  when  the  proprietors  resolved  to  expel  them,  and  lay  off 
the  Indian  land  in  baronies  for  themselves,  or  their  creatures.  The  settlement 
was  ruined,  and  die  surviving  individuals  of  it,  cursing  the  faithless  Caroli 
nians  and  avaricious  proprietors,  sought  an  asylum  in  Pennsylvania;  whilst 
the  colonists,  instead  of  deriving  protection  from  the  proprietors,  saw  their 
flanks  again  laid  bare  to  a  relentless  enemy. 

The  indignation  excited  by  this  event,  was  deep  and  universal ;  for  the 
colonists  saw  that  they  were  ever  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  private  views  of  the 
proprietors;  whilst  die  conduct  of  the  proprietors  is  easily  to  be  explained,  by 
considering  how  the  precedent  of  a  grant  of  land  without  their  concurrence, 
would  operate,  both  on  their  interests,  and  their  control  over  the  legislative 
powers  of  the  colonial  assembly. 

The  repeal  of  this,  and  several  other  salutary  laws  passed  at  the  same  time 
by  the  colonial  assembly,  and  approved  of  by  the  governor  and  council,  gave 
rise  to  tho  question  upon  which  the  revolution  of  1719  was  made  to  turn. 
The  colony  resolved  to  maintain,  "  that  the  lords  proprietors  could  not  repeal 
a  law  which  had  received  the  sanction  of  their  deputies  in  council ;  that  they 
would  carry  those  laws  into  effect,  notwithstanding  the  repeal  by  the  proprie 
tors." 

A  variety  of  circumstances  concurred  to  render  this  a  very  favourable  time 
for  prosecuting  the  grand  project  of  overthrowing  the  proprietary  government.  , 
For  the  first  time,  there  was  a  governor  and  council  disposed  to  side  with  the  / 
popular  party.  They  had  given  their  assent  to  several  highly  popular  acts, 
and  united  with  die  people  in  their  remonstrances  against  the  conduct  of  the 
lords  proprietors.  One  of  the  acts  which  met  the  disapprobation  of  the  pro 
prietors,  was  designed  to  regulate  the  Indian  trade,  and  draw  from  it  a  revenue 
to  be  applied  to  the  exigences  of  the  country:  another,  for  laying  a  duty  on 
imports  for  the  same  purpose :  a  third,  for  making  a  further  issue  of  paper 
money ;  and  a  fourth,  for  conceding  to  the  country  party,  the  right  of  electing 
representatives  at  their  respective  parish  churches,  instead  of  balloting  for  the 


252  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   whole  in  Charlcstown,  as  heretofore;  a  circumstance  which  had  always  given 

the  party  of  the  royalists,  an  undue  weight  in  influencing  the  elections. 
.  It  is  impossible  to  imagine  laws  better  calculated  to  unite  popular  opinion, 
or  the  rejection  of  which  could  tend  more  to  disgust  the  mass  of  the  commu 
nity  with  their  imperious  rulers.  But  every  one  of  these  measures  bore  with 
it  an  assumption  of  legislative  power,  although  of  powers  obviously  necessary 
for  the  good  of  the  community,  and  of  course  awakened  the  jealousy  of  the 
lords  proprietors.  About  the  same  time  also,  the  community  was  made  to  feel 
sensibly  the  degradation  of  being  governed  by  officers  in  whose  appointment 
they  had  no  voice ;  and  whose  continuance  in  office,  depended  upon  the  arbi 
trary  will  of  the  proprietors,  not  upon  the  correctness  of  their  conduct.  Chief 
Justice  Trott,  had  been  accused  and  convicted  of  various  disgraceful  and  op 
pressive  acts  in  his  office,  and  a  strong  remonstrance  sent  on  to  obtain  his 
removal  from  office.  But  he  was  among  the  most  able  and  active  champions 
of  proprietary  powrer,  and  instead  of  being  degraded,  his  conduct  was  grate 
fully  eulogised ;  whilst  die  governor  and  every  member  of  council  who  had 
espoused  the  popular  cause,  were  dismissed  from  office.  Affairs  now  ap 
proached  to  a  crisis. 

Robert  Johnson,  the  son  of  Nathaniel,  a  man  very  much  beloved  and 
respected,  had  superceded  Daniel,  and  arrived  from  England  with  instructions 
containing  the  repeal  of  all  the  favourite  measures  of  the  colony,  and  enforcing 
the  prosecution  of  a  plan  of  administration  calculated  to  thwart  the  views  of 
the  popular  party.  All  the  efforts  and  popularity  of  the  governor  were  only 
able  to  support  the  tottering  fabric  of  the  proprietary  government  for  two  years 
longer.  In  1719  the  explosion  took  place;  the  revolution  was  effected  without 
bloodshed;  with  a  degree  of  system,  talent,  and  unanimity,  highly  creditable 
to  the  agents  who  promoted  it ;  and  in  a  manner  most  ingeniously  adapted  to 
precedents  furnished  by  the  mother  country,  in  the  revolution  which  put  an  end 
to  the  dynasty  of  the  Stewarts,  and  placed  the  present  family  upon  the  English 
throne.*  The  proprietary  officers  were  all  dismissed,  with  the  exception  of 
Rhett,  who,  by  playing  a  double  game,  ingeniously  managed  to  retain  his 
office,  while  he  secured  the  thanks,  and  retained  the  confidence  of  his  original 
masters.  A  governor  and  council  were  elected  by  die  assembly  in  the  name 
of  the  king ;  and  on  him,  with  die  most  solemn  and  reiterated  professions  of 
loyalty,  diey  cast  diemselves  for  protection. 


*  Hewit,  vol.  1.  p.  232,  et passim. 


N 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  253 

Well  they  knew  that  they  would  not  be  rejected.     The  national  inclination,   GHAP. 
and  the  views  of  the  ministry  were  now  strongly  bent  on  reducing  the  colonies  S^->VA^ 
under  regal  government.     A  bill  had  actually  been  before  parliament  for  the 
purpose;  and  would  have  passed,  but  for  the  opposition  of  the  free  states  to 
the  eastward,  and  the  descendants  of  the  proprietary  grantees.     It  would  not 
be  uncharitable  to  suppose  that  some  indirect  intimation  had  been  communi 
cated  to  die  leaders  of  the  whig  party  in  Carolina,  that  such  a  measure  would 
not  be  unacceptable, — in  order  to  remove  from  their  minds  the  terrors  that 
hung  over  the  poor  colonists  from  the  principles  established  in  the  case  of 
Culpepper.     Yet  they  appear  not  to  have  been  unmindful  of  the  precedent  of 
their  ancestors  in  the  affair  of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  in  securing  to 
themselves  a  shelter  against  the  charge  of  high  treason;  for,  all  the  arts  of 
flattery  were  exhausted  to  prevail  on  Johnson  to  take  the  government  upon 
himself  under  the  new  order  of  things;  but  they  were  tried  in  vain.     \Vith  a 
dignity  and  firmness,  equalled  only  by  Ms  moderation  and  perseverance,  he 
rejected  their  advances,  and  peaceably  retired  to  his  plantation.     Though  he 
lost  his  power,  he  lost  not  an  atom  of  public  esteem  and  confidence.     A  very 
few  years  elapsed  before  he  was  cordially  hailed  by  all  as  the  representative  of 
his  sovereign,  in  the  same  station.* 

-  George  I.  was  then  on  the  throne  of  Great  Britain.  He  did  not  hesitate 
long  about  the  measures  to  be  pursued.  A  governor  of  talents,  moderation, 
and  popular  manners,  was  appointed.  A  new  assembly  convened,  an  act  of 
amnesty  passed,  the  regal  government  peaceably  established,  and  some  liberal 
concessions  made  to  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  colony. 

Shadowy  indeed  was  the  ground  upon  which  the  crown  decided  to  resume 
the  grant  made  to  ihe  proprietors.  But  not  more  shadowy  and  insincere  than 
that  upon  which  the  grant  had  been  originally  solicited  and  obtained.  "  To 
propagate  the  Christian  religion  among  the  native  heathen."  That  they  had 
not  answered  this  professed  object  of  their  endowment,  was  most  true;  and  the 
resort  to  that  ground  for  dispossessing  them,  was  most  just  and  retaliatory.  It 
may  with  confidence  be  asserted,  that  these  very  pious  proprietors,  with  all  die 
aid  of  the  pious  society  for  propagating  religion  in  foreign  parts,  had  never 
made  a  single  Indian  convert.  Indeed,  the  officers  of  the  province  had  always 
been  too  intent  upon  making  Indian  slaves,  and  the  two  objects  were  then 


*  A  monument  near  the  pulpit  in  St.  Philip's  Church  in  Charleston,  commemorates  the  worth 
of  this  governor.  Such  an  acknowledgment  was,  at  that  time,  a  work  of  signal  distinction.  Now, 
the  privilege  is  conferred  on  any  one  who  will  Incur  the  expense,  or  endow  (he  church. 


254  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   supposed  to  be  incompatible.     Hence  we  find  among  the  laws  of  this  colony, 

declaring  that  a  slave  shall  not  be  made  free  by  being  baptized.* 
As  between  the  proprietors  and  colonists,  the  case  was  widely  different.  If 
ever  it  was  lawful  to  resort  to  revolutionary  principles,  it  was  in  this  case.  The 
colony  had  never  received  from  the  proprietors  the  protection  due  from  rulers. 
It  had  been  literally  regarded  by  them  as  a  plantation;  and  the  inhabitants  as 
mere  labourers  in  the  vineyard.  Necessity  obliged  the  inhabitants  to  defer  the 
effort  too  long.  But  the  proprietors  were  regarded  as  the  substitutes  of  the 
crown,  and  to  resist  them  had  been  decided  to  be  treason  against  the  king. 

Still,  however,  three  badges  of  dependance  remained  fastened  upon  the 
colony.  The  parliament  asserted  the  right  of  regulating  the  trade  of  the 
country,  and  the  king,  that  of  appointing  to  all  the  great  offices  of  the  state; 
these  offices,  therefore,  were  held  by  men  who,  though  paid  by  the  colony, 
acknowledged  no  dependance  on,  or  responsibility  to  them.  The  third  was 
still  more  humiliating.  The  king  retained  a  veto  upon  all  the  colonial  laws. 
This  was  exercised  through  the  board  of  trade  while  that  existed,  and  after 
wards  by  the  secretary  of  the  colonial  department.  Before  these  representa 
tives  of  sovereign  authority,  the  colony  was  obliged  to  appear  by  counsel  to 
solicit  die  passage  of  its  acts,  or  the  adoption  of  any  measure  of  policy  thought 
necessary  for  its  own  welfare.  They  had  in  fact  to  keep  a  standing  agent,  or  soli 
citor,  in  London,  for  these  purposes,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  read  with  temper  the 
humiliations  to  which  they  appear,  at  times,  to  have  been  subjected,  by  these 
substitutes  of  proprietary  tyranny.  The  correspondence  between  the  board 
appointed  to  conduct  these  solicitations  on  this  side  the  water,  through  the  aid 
of  agents  retained  counsel  and  benevolent  patrons  of  the  colony  there,  is  still 
extant. 

But,  for  the  present,  the  people  were  content.  Party  seems  almost  to  have 
been  annihilated.  The  common  danger  and  common  distresses  that  they  had 
recently  shared,  and  the  common  effort  that  had  been  successfully  made  in 
bringing  about  the  present  state  of  tilings,  seem  to  have  produced  an  universal 
good  will  throughout  the  colony,  which  was  not  a  little  heightened  by  the 
pleasing  contemplation  of  their  rapid  progress  in  wealth  and  population ;  no 
thing  puts  men  in  better  humour  with  themselves  and  all  the  world.  In  nine 
years  afterwards,  an  adjustment  between  the  proprietors  and  the  crown,  for 
the  purchase  of  the  interest  of  seven  of  the  eight  proprietors,  and  a  designa 
tion  of  the  eighth  share  in  a  particular  region  of  the  state  of  North  Carolina, 


*  Acts  1712,  June  7- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  255 

placed  the  minds  of  the  colonists  entirely  at  case.     Liberal  measures  were  CHAP. 
adopted  for  giving  encouragement  to  settlers,  the  government  lent  its  aid  to  ^r^^^ 
their  protection,  and  the  most  grateful  of  all  sacrifices  was  made  to  the  feelings 
of  the  country  party,  by  delivering  them  from  that  odious  badge  of  depend- 
ance,  the  degrading  annual  contribution,  called  quit-rents.     This  was  but  one 
shilling  for  every  hundred  acres;  but  it  was  imposed  as  a  badge  of  depend- 
ance,  and  the  point  of  honour  with  the  emigrant  was  to  to  become  lord  of  the 
soil.     Hence,  from  the  very  commencement  of  the  colony,  it  w-as  ever  a  sub 
ject  of  bickering  and  heartburning.     A  condition  of  forfeiture  was  attached  to 
the  failure  of  payment,  and  the  occupant  of  the  soil  could  never  tolerate  the 
idea  of  being  thus  bound  do\vn  to  make  tliis  annual  offering  on  the  shrine  of 
aristocracy. 

The  j*ears  that  elapsed  between  1728  and  1763,  were  years  of  unprecedented 
prosperity.  The  increase  of  population  was  immense,  and  in  the  enjoyment 
of  unexampled  happiness,  the  people  became  gay,  polished  and  devoted  to 
hospitality.  Among  those  who  passed  the  meridian  of  life  during  that  period, 
it  was  always  affectionately  remembered  by  the  appellation  of  the  good  old 
times.  Society  was,  at  that  time,  precisely  in  that  state  which  is  most  favour-  ' 
able  to  the  enjoyment  of  life.  Sufficiently  refined  to  gratify  a  cultivated  taste, 
without  being  encumbered  with  those  factitious  embellishments  which  embar 
rass  the  intercourse  of  social  life.  The  luxuries  of  the  day  were  within  the 
reach  of  a  moderate  fortune,  and  few  could  be  said  to  be  elevated  above  one 
common  level.  Hence  social  happiness  was  not  disturbed  by  the  workings  of 
envy,  or  die  haughty  demeanour  of  upstart  pride.  The  party  in  power  felt 
and  acknowledged  that  they  had  been  called  to  the  government  by  the  voice 
of  the  people;  and  the  people  blended  with  a  respectful  deportment,  the  elevat 
ing  consciousness  of  those  who  have  conferred  the  power  to  which  they  sub 
mit.  Indeed,  with  all  the  high  and  just  pretensions  of  republicanism,  it  will 
ever  be  a  question,  whether  that  state  of  things  which  tempts  all  to  ambitious 
pursuits,  although  it  developes  the  powers  of  man,  and  expands  his  bosom 
with  a  conscious  dignity  not  to  be  exchanged  for  life  or  happiness  either,  docs 
not  entrench  much  upon  that  tranquillity  of  mind,  without  which  much  may  be 
possessed,  but  little  enjoyed. 

Yet  even  at  this  period,  when  seemingly  absorbed  in  the  enjoyments  of  the 
present  hour,  and  actually  knowing  no  other  rivalship  than  in  expressions  of 
loyalty  and  affection  to  the  parent  state,  was  the  colony  silently  preparing  for 
the  revolution  which  finally  severed  it  from  this  object  of  its  earliest  and 
strongest  affections.  It  was  acquiring  strength,  wealth,  habits  of  self-govern 
ment,  and  above  all,  the  information  that  was  necessarv  to  extricate  it  from 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  that  moral  depcndance  which  resulted  from  a  conscious,  or  inculcated  inferio 
rity  to  every  thing  transatlantic  and  British. 

Insurrection,  rebellion,  popular  commotion,  may  be  result  of  single  and 
obvious  occurrences ;  but  great  revolutions  are  secretly  prepared  in  the  alembic 
of  time,  and  are  the  effects  of  causes  seldom  avowed  by  those  who  promote 
them,  and  not  always  discernible,  whilst  the  view  is  confused  by  passing 
events. 

The  polish  of  an  English  education  at  this  time,  was  deemed  indispensable 
to  every  youth,  whose  fortune,  connexions,  or  ambition,  lifted  his  views  to 
distinction,  or  to  public  usefulness.  At  the  great  schools,  or  in  the  public  insti 
tutions  of  Great  Britain  established  for  initiation  to  the  learned  professions,  the 
youth  of  Carolina  learned  to  set  a  just  estimate  on  their  own  talents  and 
acquirements,  and  to  see  and  feel  that  the  inferiority  of  the  colonist  or  North 
American,  existed  only  in  the  reveries  of  the  gownman,  or  the  delusion  of  a 
selfish  policy.  Hence,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolution,  die  state  of  South 
Carolina  was  found  well  stocked  with  native  citizens  of  talents,  acquirementt 
and  spirit,  competent  to  conducting  so  great  an  undertaking.  These  men,  on 
their  return  to  their  native  country,  found  themselves  degraded  by  the  intrusion 
of  a  swarm  of  officers,  whose  promotion  often  had  no  other  origin  than  the 
intrigues  of  a  footman,  or  the  blandisments  of  a  mistress.  At  the  breaking  out 

^j  o 

of  the  revolution,  and  for  some  time  before  that  event,  there  was  scarcely  a 
native  in  any  of  the  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  crown,  in  South  Carolina.  In 
deed,  some  had  been  removed,  to  make  place  for  others,  from  whom  more 
pliancy  might  be  expected.*  Thus,  generally  speaking,  was  the  state  of  things 


*  The  following  facts  will  serve  to  illustrate  this  passage  of  the  text.  They  are  extracted  from  an 
authentic  source. 

"  About  the  year  1752  the  great  contest  was  decided  for  the  Westminster  election  between  Lord 
Trenholni,  the  ministerial  candidate,  and  Sir  George  Vandeput,  the  opposition  candidate;  Mr.  Lee 
was  then  an  eminent  counsellor  in  England,  and  high  bailiff  of  Westminster,  and  he  returned  Lord 
Trenholni  as  duly  elected,  when  Sir  George  Vandeput  ought  undoubtedly  to  have  been  returned,  as 
the  successful  candidate.  The  opposition  were  so  exceedingly  exasperated  at  this  return,  that  they 
began  to  take  serious  measures  to  indict  Mr.  Lee,  for  a  false  and  corrupt  return.  To  disarm  them  he 
agreed  to  vacate  his  office,  and  as  our  judges  (of  South  Carolina)  then  held  their  offices  durante  benc 
placeto  of  the  crown,  Chief  Justice  Tinckney's  office  was  taken  from  him,  and  conferred  on  Mr.  Lee, 
who  held  the  office  to  his  death,  and  as  he  was  a  man  of  abilities  and  a  good  lawyer,  he  filled  it  well. 
On  his  death,  a  Mr.  Simpson,  (not  a  lawyer,)  was  temporarily  appointed;  and  afterwards,  a  Mr. 
Shinner,  (still  less  a  lawyer  than  Simpson,)  was  made  chief  justice.  This  was  through  the  influence 
of  Lord  Halifax's  mistress,  he  being  then  first  lord  of  the  board  of  trade  and  plantations.  Shinner 
beld  the  office  until  the  time  of  the  stamp-act,  when,  upon  his  refusing  to  do  business  without  stamps, 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  257 

<• . 

in  South  Carolina  favourable  to  the  success  of  the  revolution  of  1776.     Har-   CHAP. 

vn 
mony  prevailed  among  the  people,  their  circumstances  were  easy,  and  thev--rv^s-/ 

spirit  of  independence,  or  attachment  to  civil  liberty,  which  their  fathers  had 
brought  over  with  them  into  the  colony,  had  been  fostered  by  two  successive 
revolutions,  which  heaped  honour  upon  die  memory  of  their  supporters,  whilst 
they  greatly  improved  the  condition  of  the  citizens.  Even  the  establishment 
of  the  episcopal  church  in  the  province,  was  not  as  unfavourable  to  civil 
liberty  as  might  be  imagined.  From  its  first  establishment,  it  will  be  recol 
lected,  that  it  exhibited  an  attachment  to  the  low  church,  or  republican  eccle 
siastical  tenets.  And  although  most  of  their  ministers  adhered  to  their  sove 
reign,  and  left  the  country  when  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  state  was 
tendered  them,  it  must  be  recollected  that  they  were  missionaries  selected  by 
the  society  for  propagating  Christianity.  Almost  all  the  leading  whigs,  in  the 
low  country,  were  of  the  episcopal  church ;  nor  was  there  ever  exhibited  any 
thing  of  dissension  or  party  spirit  between  the  members  of  that  sect  and  the 
dissenters,  during  the  war.  The  distinction  of  whig  and  tory  had  no  reference 
to,  or  dependance  upon  that  cause.  The  distinction  of  sect  was  totally  done 
away  by  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  state.  And  the  people  had  among  them  a 
class  of  men  calculated  to  moderate  and  direct  the  public  efforts,  and  who, 
beside  sharing  in  common  in  the  feelings  and  interests  of  the  community,  had 
an  additional  stimulus  of  their  own  for  siding  with,  and  sustaining  a  revolu 
tionary  effort.  Nor  can  we  omit  the  assertion,  that  South  Carolina  had  always 


the  assembly,  in  the  absence  of  the  governor,  prevailed  on  Mr.  Bull,  the  lieutenant  governor,  to  ap 
point  Mr.  Lowndes,  Mr.  Benjamin  Smith,  and  Mr.  D'Oyley  judges,  and  they,  with  Mr.  Pringle, 
already  a  judge,  opened  the  court  without  stamps,  and  did  business  as  usual.  Chief  Justice  Shinner 
died,  and  Mr.  Smith  resigned,  but  the  rest  continued  In  office  until  the  year  1/70,  or  1771,  when  a. 
secretary  of  state  was  appointed  by  the  crown  to  supercccle  the  board  of  trade  and  plantations;  and, 
Lord  Hillsborough  being  first  nominated  to  that  office,  he  vacated  the  existing  commissions,  and 
appointed  a  new  set  of  judges,  most  of  them  Irishmen.  The  object  was,  that  they  might  have 
judges  on  whom  .the  could  always  depend." 

The  following  list  exhibits  the  names  of  most  of  the  Carolinians,  if  not  all,  who  were  educated  in 
England  about  this  period,  and  those  conversant  with  the  revolutionary  history  of  South  Carolina, 
will  recognise  among  them  many  conspicuous  actors  on  the  arena  of  the  revolution;  all  of  them,  with 
a  solitary  exception,  it  is  believed,  were  the  steady  and  animated  supporters  of  the  American  cause. 

Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  Thomas  Pinckney,  John  Rutledge,  Mr.  M'Kenzie,  Ralph  Ixard, 
sen.  Thomas  Middleton,  William  Henry  Draytoi!,  Charles  Drayton,  Dr.  Ch  irlcs  Drayton,  Mr. 
Stoutonborough,  Hugh  Rutledge,  Thomas  Heyward,  Thomas  Lvnch,  Paul  T rapier,  Mr.  Harvev, 
Alexander  Moultrie,  Mr.  Hume,  J.  F.  Grimk£,  Ralph  Ixard.  jun.  Walter  Izard,  Mr.  Ladson,  William 
Heyward,  Mr.  Stead,  Edward  Rutledge,  General  Read,  John  Lauren*,  and  Major  Garden,  besides 
a  number  who  were  educated  in  Scotland,  whose  names  we  are  not  in  possession  of. 

33 


253  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CvuP>  mamtametl  a  h*gu  character  for  military  cnterprize.  Her  wars  with  the  pirates 
^^^-^^  and  Spaniards  would  grace  the  early  history  of  any  state  or  nation,  and 
although  some  few  of  her  conflicts  with  the  aborigines  have  been  narrated,  a 
very  small  proportion  of  her  just  claims  to  celebrity  for  this  cause  have  been 
published  to  the  world.  There  exist  the  most  authentic  records  to  prove  that 
she  extended  her  conquests  even  to  the  Apalachicola;  and  under  the  conduct 
of  Moor,  her  troops  actually  destroyed  the  Spanish  post  near  where  Fort 
Gadsden  now  stands;  and  after  driving  the  Indians  beyond  that  stream  and 
the  Oakafanoka,  to  where  the  fugitives  are  even  now  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  Seminoles,  brought  back  a  number  of  prisoners,  and  settled  them 
under  the  control  of  Fort  Moor,  on  the  Savannah  River.  Hence  the  dignity, 
firmness,  and  effect  with  which  the  revolution  was  sustained  in  the  south,  until 
Charleston  sunk  under  the  overwhelming  efforts  of  an  enraged  and  baffled 
enemy.  Until  that  event,  a  most  striking  unanimity  had  exhibited  itself  in  the 
whole  seacoast  of  die  southern  country;  but  when  the  possession  of  that  post 
gave  the  enemy  an  influence,  if  not  a  command,  from  the  Chesapeake  to 
Florida,  the  weak,  the  timid,  and  the  corrupt,  separated  themselves  from  the 
mass  of  the  community,  and  too  many  manifested  by  then*  subsequent  con 
duct,  that  they  either  wanted  stamina  for  the  contest  they  had  engaged  in,  or 
had  graduated  their  conduct  by  a  selfish,  time-serving  policy. 

In  the  upper  country  of  the  southern  states  the  case  was  materially  different. 
From  the  very  origin  of  the  contest,  in  various  parts  of  that  region,  strik 
ing  symptoms  of  disaffection  had  manifested  themselves.  The  diversity  of 
opinion  that  existed  there,  was  the  necessary  result  of  a  variety  of  causes. 
The  whole  of  that  country  had  been  recently  settled.  The  progress  of  colo 
nization  had  not  been  gradually  extending  from  the  seacoast  to  the  interior ; 
but  a  stream  of  emigration,  extending  from  the  north  to  the  milder  climate  of 
the  south,  had  occupied  that  country.  The  conduct  of  the  legislatures  of  the 
several  states,  had  not  been  marked  with  liberality,  or  proper  attention  to  these 
settlers;  and  very  generally  there  prevailed  a  rivalship,  or  distrust,  between  the 
upper  and  lower  countries  in  these  states, — feelings  which,  in  a  mitigated 
degree,  exist  to  this  day.  In  every  instance,  the  legislatures  were  tardy  and 
reluctant  in  extending  to  the  new  settlers  the  consideration  due  to  members  of 
the  community ;  instead  of  securing  their  confidence  and  affections  by  a  liberal 
and  enlightened  policy.  Hence  many  of  them  were  disposed  to  consider  the 
promoters  of  opposition  to  the  encroachments  of  die  British  government,  as 
disturbers  of  the  public  peace,  and  as  selfish  demagogues,  whose  only  object 
in  throwing  off  the  royal  government,  was  to  take  the  reins  into  their  own 
hands. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  26i) 

Besides  this,  that  country  had  long  been  distracted  by  die  most  violent  lends*  unr 

,  .       •  .  vn. 

and  private  animosities.  s^r-^/-^- 

The  first  white  inhabitants  of  those  frontiers  were  a  bold  and  adventurous 
race  of  men,  often  driven  by  their  crimes,  their  debts,  or  their  vices,  to  follow 
the  roving  life  of  the  hunter  state;  and  in  civilization,  but  little,  if  at  all  ad 
vanced  beyond  the  native  savage.  When  the  respectable  agriculturalist  pene 
trated  these  forests,  he  was  sometimes  obliged,  for  common  defence,  to  associate 
with  this  class  of  people,  and  the  association  was  generally  fatal  to  the  morals 
of  the  rising  generations.  But  more  frequently  they  formed  distinct  societies. 
and,  in  process  of  time,  became  deadly  hostile  to  each  other.  It  seldom  hap 
pened  that'  the  first  settlements  made,  were  sufficiently  numerous  or  respectable 
to  attract  the  notice  of  the  government  of  the  province ;  and  not  unfrequently, 
as  they  were  made  without  the  sanction  of  a  grant,  did  it  happen,  that  the  set 
tlers  wished  not  to  attract  the  notice  of  government.  But  it  was  necessary  to 
defend  themselves,  both  against  the  incursions  of  the  Indians,  and  the  lawless 
race  of  wandering  whites,  who  were  tempted  by  the  prospect  of  impunity  to 
commit  depredations  on  their  property.  Hence  there  were  distributed  over 
that  country  various  small  communities,  who  entered  into  associations  to  do 
that  justice  to  themselves,  and  inflict  that  punishment  upon  others,  which  ought 
to  have  devolved  upon  the  state,  within  the  limits  of  which  they  were  situated. 
This  was  the  origin  of  that  class  of  people  called  regulators, — a  name,  in  the 
first  instance,  assumed  by  the  early  settlers  in  North  Carolina  when  resistance 
to  their  rulers  was  the  object  of  association. 

It  seldom  happens  that  justice  thus  administered,  is  not  oppressively  admin 
istered.  These  associations  were  in  the  habit  of  inflicting  the  severest  castiga- 
tion  for  offences;  and  individuals,  when  pursued  for  imputed  crimes,  were  not 
unfrequently  brought  down  by  the  rifle.  Nor  was  the  vigilance  of  the  regu 
lators  in  time,  limited  to  their  own  protection  from  the  commission  of  crimes. 
When  the  surveyors,  under  legitimate  warrants,  approached  their  establish 
ments,  they  were  not  unfrequently  warned  to  retire,  and  disobedience  exposed 
them  to  the  penalty  of  a  breach  of  regulation.  It  may  very  well  be  supposed 
that  these  acts  of  violence  provoked  retaliation.  And  such  was  the  animosity 
often  excited  by  acts  done  under  this  assumed  authority,  that  resort  was  had  to 
ambush  and  the  deadly  rifle  for  revenge.  It  was  many  years  after  the  revolu 
tionary  war,  before  the  courts  of  justice  were  able  to  break  down  this  habit  of 
inflicting  punishment  rather  than  prosecute  the  offender  before  a  lawful  tri 
bunal. 

When  the  settlements  had  advanced  to  a  state  of  respectability,  this  mode  of 
administering  summary  justice  assumed  a  more  respectable  form.    The  inha- 


260  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  bitants  alleged  die  neglect  of  die  states  to  provide  regular  and  convenient 
,^-^^^x  courts  for  the  administration  of  justice;  and  large  districts  of  country  would 
enter  into  associations,  to  which  they  would  communicate  something  of  sys 
tem;  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  which  ever  side  was 
espoused  by  such  an  association,  all  those  whom  they  had  punished  or  perse 
cuted,  would  immediately  crowd  to  the  opposite  standard  in  hopes  of  revenge. 
Indeed,  it  not  unfrequcntly  happened,  that  a  connexion,  or  an  associate  in  one 
band,  incurred  the  vengeance  or  punishment  of  another,  and  then  the  whole 
clan  became  arrayed  in  opposition  to  each  other. 

It  has  been  noticed  by  some  of  the  writers  on  the  American  war,  and 
seems  to  have  excited  their  surprise,  diat  any  of  those  settlements  which  had 
been  in  hostility  with  the  royal  government  of  the  colonies,  should,  during  the 
revolution,  have  united  themselves  to  the  royal  standard.  But  the  thing 
was  perfectly  natural.  Such  men  had  no  state  attachments,  and  consi 
dered  the  revolutionary  government  as  identified  with  the  colonial  govern 
ments.  From  these  therefore,  they  had  nothing  to  expect  but  the  perpetuation 
of  the  laws  and  policy  under  which  they  had  been  vexed,  and,  as  they  con 
tended,  unjustly  harassed.  They  naturally  joined  the  enemies  of  their  perse 
cutors.  From  the  success  of  the  royal  arms  they  might  expect  rewards, 
revenge,  or  an  amelioration  of  their  prospects,  but  not  from  the  firm  establish 
ment  of  that  order  of  things,  and  diose  rulers,  whom  they  had  hitherto  eyed 
with  hostility. 

The  effects  of  these  feuds  were  severely  felt  in  the  course  of  the  revolutionary 
war,  and  drew  forth  from  General  Greene,  in  several  of  his  letters,  an  assertion 
that  the  parties  pursued  each  other  like  wild  beasts.  The  scene  displayed  was 
indeed  awful.  Other  states  knew  nothing  of  the  horrors  of  the  warfare  car 
ried  on  in  the  south.  Horrors  which,  it  will  be  seen,  were  greatly  aggravated 
by  the  countenance  given  to  such  acts,  by  officers  holding  British  commissions. 

There  were  still  other  causes  of  diversity  of  opinion  operating  upon  the 
interior  of  the  southern  states.  Both  in  North  and  South  Carolina,  there  were 
respectable  settlements  of  quakers,  and  that  sect,  notwithstanding  the  conspi 
cuous  commanders  which  it  gave  to  the  service,  furnished  no  soldiers;  it  ap 
pears  to  have  been  nearly  unanimous  against  the  war  throughout  the  United 
States.  Indeed,  then1  leading  tenet  admitted  of  no  other  conduct  than  a  state 
of  neutrality ;  but  they  have  not  had  credit  in  these  states  for  confining  them 
selves  rigidly  wilhing  the  limits  which  neutrality  would  prescribe.  It  was  not 
expected  diat  they  should  fight,  and  if  they  were  partial  in  furnishing  supplies, 
or  intelligence,  perhaps  it  is  attributable  to  the  difference  in  value  between 
British  gold  and  American  paper.  Yet  it  is  more  probable  that  they  have 


. 

• 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  261 

been  calumniated  by  those  who  were  sustaining  evils  from  which  the  disciples   CHAP. 

vii  • 
of  passive  obedience  were  partially  exempt.  s^v-x^ 

In  North  Carolina  there  were  also  the  Moravian  Settlements,  whose  tenets 
are  unfavourable  to  war,  or  interference  in  political  contests ;  and  the  settle 
ment  of  Scots,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cross  Creek,  who,  to  this  clay,  are  cut 
oflf  from  communication  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  by  obstinately  confining 
themselves  to  speaking  the  Erse  language.  They  of  course  had  not  risen 
above  the  habits  of  devotion  of  their  ancient  countrymen,  when  summoned  to 
attend  their  chiefs  to  war.  They  were  decidedly  hostile  to  the  American  cause, 
and  always  the  firm  adherents  to  a  few  active  and  enterprising  leaders,  who 
greatly  obstructed  the  progress  of  the  revolutionary  war  in  the  country  border 
ing  on  the  dividing  line  between  North  and  South  Carolina. 


* 
262  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE, 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Progress  of  the  war  in  the  southern  department,  to  the  time  of  General  Greene's 

taking  command. 


CHAP.  A  HE  writers  of  Great  Britain  are  loud  in  their  declamations  against  the 
.JUJJL,  ingratitude  of  her  colonies,  for  engaging  in  what  was  represented  by  them,  and 
recognised  by  one  American,  as  an  unnatural  war.*  But  it  is  a  fact  not  un 
worthy  of  notice,  that  the  developement  of  the  oppressive  system  which  the 
mother  country  had  resolved  to  "pursue  towards  the  colonies,  was  at  a  time 
when  Great  Britain  had  been  compelled  to  acknowledge  a  debt  of  gratitude 
to  her  colonies. 

She  actually  refunded  voluntary  advances  made  by  the  colonies  in  the  war 
of  1756.  It  was  at  the  conclusion  of  that  war,  by  which  the  nation  acquired 
nothing  but  an  accession  to  her  pride  and  her  debt,  that  she  commenced  the 
prosecution  of  measures  that  drove  from  her  arms  the  most  promising  of  her 
colonial  offspring.  The  pretext  for  passing  the  stamp-act  of  1765,  was  to  raise 
a  revenue  for  the  defence  of  the  colonies.  But  the  reason  assigned  was  adding 

O  o 

insult  to  injury.  The  protection  thus  to  be  paid  for,  consisted  in  a  swarm  of 
guarda  costas,  really  intended  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  protect  die  mother 
country  from  a  diminution  of  the  profits  expected  from  the  monopoly  of  colo 
nial  trade;  or  in  the  maintenance  of  troops  and  officers  intended  to  keep  the 
colonies  in  subjection,  while  the  parliament  were  riveting  the  chains  forged  for 

*  Colonel  Lee. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  263 

America  by  the  premier  Sir  Robert  Grenville.     This  was  extending  to  the   CHAP. 

VIII 

country  the  protection  which  the  tenant  of  the  dungeon  derives  from  the  sen-  v^v-%-/ 
tinel  placed  at  the  door.     Dr.  Franklin's  witty  fable  on  this  occasion  is  more 
remarkable  for  the  aptness  of  its  allusions,  than  the  decency  of  its  incidents. 

"Whatever  may  have  been  the  state  of  the  question  as  to  other  colonies,  with 
regard  to  those  in  the  south,  the  principle  of  the  stamp-act  was  founded  in 
palpable  usurpation.  The  British  constitution  recognizes  the  principle  that  the 
rights  and  duties  of  the  subject  are  the  result  of  compact,  and  that  such  com 
pacts  are  deducible,  as  well  from  usage  and  acquiescence,  as  from  written 
concession. 

The  first  charter  of  Charles  dated  in  1663,  reserved  nothing  to  the  crown 
but  the  sovereign  dominion  of  the  country ;  all  legislative,  executive,  and  judi 
cial  power  was  vested  in  die  lords  proprietors,  with  the  express  reservation, 
that  these  powers  should  be  executed  "  with  the  advice,  assent,  and  approbation 
of  the  freemen  of  the  colony."  And  the  right  was  also  granted  them  to 
"  enjoy  customs  and  subsidies  which  they,  with  die  consent  of  the  freemen, 
should  impose  upon  goods  loaded  and  unloaded."  From  this  it  would  result, 
that  the  king  retained  nothing  but  his  royal  veto  upon  the  legislative  power  of 
the  colony.  Whence  the  parliament  derived  any  power  at  all  to  legislate  over 
the  colonies,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine.  But  the  colony,  in  the  days  of  its 
infancy,  had  submitted  to  the  parliamentary  assertion  of  the  right  of  regulating 
its  foreign  trade,  and  this  was  the  inlet  of  further  encroachments.  The  first 
compact  of  the  lords  proprietors  with  the  colonists  in  May  1603,  declared, 
"  That  all  persons  settling  on  Charles  River  to  the  southward  of  Cape  Fear, 
shall  have  power  to  fortify  its  banks,  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king, 
and  submitting  to  the  government  of  the  proprietaries;  that  the  emigrants 
may  present  to  them  thirteen  persons,  in  order  that  they  may  appoint  a  gover 
nor,  and  council  of  six,  for  three  years ;  that  an  assembly,  composed  of  the 
governor  and  council,  and  delegates  of  the  freemen,  should  be  called  as  soon 
.as  the  circumstances  of  the  colony  would  allow,  with  power  to  make  laws, 
which  should  be  neither  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England,  nor  of  any  validity 
after  the  publication  of  the  dissent  of  the  proprietaries ;  that  the  same  freedom 
from  customs  which  had  been  conferred  by  the  royal  charter,  should  be  allowed 
to  every  one,"  &c.*  These  were  the  original  conditions  on  which  South 
Carolina  was  planted ;  and  when,  in  the  August  following,  the  lords  proprie 
tors  undertook,  in  their  celebrated  fundamental  articles,  to  impose  a  govern- 


Chalmers'  Political  Annals,  517- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   merit  upon  the  colony  varying  materially  from  their  original  concessions,  the 
^^^/  colonists  at  once  resisted,  and  finally  compelled  the  proprietaries  to  abandon 
this  unjustifiable  encroachment  upon  the  compact  on  which  the  relation  .bc- 
.   *  tween  the  ruler  and  the  ruled  was  first  assumed.     From  that  time  the  imposi 
tion  of  "  duties  and  customs  on  goods  loaded  and  unloaded,"  was  uniformly 

* 

exercised  by  the  colonial  legislature;  and  when  the  colony  threw  off  the  pro 
prietary  government,  the  right  of  the  legislature  to  exercise  that  power,  was 
repeatedly  acquiesced  in  by  the  sanction  of  the  crown  given  to  laws  passed 
upon  that  subject. 

The  flimsy  ground  upon  which  the  right  of  parliament  to  impose  internal 
taxes  on  the  colonists  was  asserted,  was,  "  that  as  British  subjects  they  were 
Jiable  to  be  governed,  wherever  they  were,  by  the  legislative  power  of  Great 
Britain;"  and  it  has  been  asserted,  that  the  second  charter  of  Charles  II.  of 
June  1665,  reserved  the  power  of  parliament  to  regulate  and  tax  the  colo 
nists.* 

It  is  in  vain  that  we  look  in  that  charter  for  any  such  reservation.  The 
colonists  and  their  children  were  declared  to  be  denizens  of  England,  who 
should  always  be  considered  as  the  same  people,  and  possess  die  same  privi 
leges,  as  those  dwelling  within  the  realm.  But  it  would  be  absurd  to  deduce 
from  this  concession — this  grant  of  a  boon,  a  conscqent  liability  to  be  reduced 
to  a  state  of  absolute  subjection — of  being  governed  without  being  represented. 
It  is  obviously  a  grant  of  a  right  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  a  colonist,  without 
losing  the  civil  rights  attached  to  his  character  of  a  British  subject.  All  the 
other  privileges  conferred  on  him  by  the  charter  of  1663,  are  confirmed  by  this, 
and  a  variety  of  others  were  intended  to  be  conferred  by  it — that  of  a  voice 
in  granting  customs  is  particularly  conferred,  but  not  a  syllable  has  any  relation 
to  the  right  of  parliament  to  exercise  this  power  over  the  colonies.  Nor,  in 
the  course  of  near  half  a  century  that  elapsed  after  the  establishment  of  the 
royal  government  in  the  province  of  South  Carolina,  was  such  a  power  ever 
hinted  at,  except  in  the  indirect  instance  of  regulating  the  trade  between  die 
colonies. 

The  previous  history  of  the  southern  province  might  have  furnished  the 
British  ministry  with  a  tolerably  correct  idea  of  the  reception  which  the  stamp- 
act  would  meet  with  there.  The  alarm  was  universal,  the  measures  of 
the  colonists  prompt  and  decisive,  their  remonstrances  respectful  but  charac 
terized  by  a  strength  of  language  and  boldness  of  thought  that  left  no  doubt  to 


Chalmers,  522. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GKEKNK.  2& 

what  issue  they  pointed.     With  an  ill  grace  the  ministry  receded  from  this  first  cfj.vr. 
attempt ;  tor  they  saw  the  gathering  of  a  storm  that  they  had  not  anticipated.  ^^s-* 
But  the  repeal  of  the  stamp-act  was  qualified  by  an  assertion  which  rendered 
the  boon  contemptible.     A  preamble  to  the  repealing  law,  affirmed  the  right 
of  the  parliament  to  legislate  over  the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever.     Ex 
travagant  was  the  joy  of  the  colonists,  when  the  repeal  of  this  obnoxious  la\\ 
was  announced  to  them.     But  not  so  with  the  more  grave  and  thinking  part 
of  the  American  people.     The  single  law  was  nothing,  the  principle  which  it 
asserted  alarmed  them,  and  the  avowed  adherence  of  the  parliament  to  that 
principle,  left  them  every  thing  to  apprehend  for  their  posterity. 

It  has  been  mentioned  by  every  American  historian  who  has  written  on  the 
American  war,  that  the  people  of  America  did  not  wish  for  a  separation  from 
Great  Britain.  It  takes  a  long  time,  and  requires  great  pains  to  bring  an 
extensive  people  to  think  profoundly,  especially  on  subjects  which  expose 
opinion  to  the  restraints  of  authority ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the 
enlightened  and  thinking  men  of  the  United  States  could  have  been  long  in 
deciding  to  maintain  their  claim  to  either  independence,  or  the  extinction  of 
these  pretensions  of  the  British  government  It  is  certain  that  there  was  at 
least  one  man  in  South  Carolina  who,  as  early  as  1766,  foresaw  and  foretold 
the  views  of  the  British  government,  and  explicitly  urged  his  adherents  to  the 
resolution  to  resist  even  to  death.*  A  very  few  years  showed,  that  although 


*  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  on  a  subject  so  highly  Important,  there  is  ever  to  be  found  a  perfect 
unanimity.  On  this  point  there  is  the  best  reason  for  maintaining  that  there  were  two  parties  in 
South  Carolina,  who  entertained  very  opposite  views  as  to  the  measure  of  independence.  The 
object  of  both  was  to  have  their  grievances  redressed;  but  one  was  willing  yet  to  confide  in  the  jus 
tice  and  magnanimity  of  the  British  government,  and  deprecated  the  idea  of  a  separation.  The 
other  saw  the  impossibility  of  preserving  the  connexion  of  the  two  countries  without  perpetuating 
the  present  badges  of  dependence  and  inferiority,  and  was  disposed  to  make  use  of  passing  events  us 
the  plausible  pretexts,  or  present  motives  for  resistance,  but  really  with  a  view  to  absolute  independ 
ence,  or  a  state  approaching  to  a  confederation.  They  were  satisfied  to  continue  in  a  state  of  firm 
connexion  with  Great  Britain,  if  secure  from  every  exercise  of  royal  or  parliamentary  authority  thai 
could  humble  or  degrade  the  colonist. 

There  is  sufficient  evidence  in  existence  to  prove  that  Colonel  Henry  Laurens  was  of  the  first 
class,  and  that  General  Christopher  Gadsden  was  of  the  last ;  and  these  two  gentlemen  had  mud; 
influence  in  giving  a  turn  and  direction  to  opinion,  in  the  commencement  <;f  the  revolution. 

The  following  extract  of  a  memorial,  addressed  by  Colonel  Laurens,  when  in  the  tower,  to  the 
speaker  of  the  house  of  commons,  is  taken  from  the  IS'ew  Annual  Register  for  1781,  (Public  Paper-:, 
163.)  "  The  representation  and  prayer,  &c.  respectfully  showeth,  that  your  representer  for  many  year* 
at  the  peril  of  his  life  and  fortune,  evidently  laboured  to  preserve  and  strengthen  the  ancient  friendship 
between  Great  Britain  and  th<>  colonies,  and  that  in  no  instance  he  ever  excited,  on  either  side,  the 

31 


266  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  the  parliament  thought  it  advisable  to  retract  at  present,  it  was  only  retiring 
to  prepare  its  measures  with  more  art  and  effect. 

In  the  opposition  which  ensued,  the  southern  states  were  surpassed  by  none 
in  zeal  and  energy.  Georgia  was  at  first  a  little  checked  by  difficulties,  greater 
perhaps  than  any  other  state  had  to  encounter,  but  her  subsequent  vigour  am 
ply  atoned  for  her  delay  in  the  commencement. 

Other  states  have  of  late  exhibited  mQch  sensibility  on  the  subject  of  pre 
eminence  in  supporting  the  revolution,  but  let  the  following  facts  and  dates 
speak  the  just  pretensions  of  South  Carolina. 

The  first  step  towards  continental  union,  was  adopted  hi  South  Carolina 
before  it  had  been  agreed  upon  by  any  colony  south  of  New  England;*  this 
was  in  the  year  1765,  immediately  after  the  news  arrived  of  the  passage  of  the 
stamp-act. 

South  Carolina  was  the  first  of  the  united  colonies  that  formed  an  indepen 
dent  constitution ;  this  was  in  March  1776,  prior  to  the  recommendation  of 
congress  to  that  effect.f  But  an  independent  government  in  fact  existed  in  the 
colony  from  the  6th  of  July  1774.  On  that  day  a  large  convention  of  the 
people  was  held,  and  an  unanimous  vote  passed  to  support  Massachusetts  in 
the  vindication  of  her  rights.  From  that  time,  although  the  royal  government 


dissensions  which  separated  them.  That  the  commencement  of  the  present  war  was  the  subject  of 
^reat  grief  to  him,  inasmuch  as  he  foresaw  and  foretold  in  letters  now  extant,  the  distresses  which 
both  countries  experience  at  this  day." 

General  Gadsden,  it  is  well  known,  and  there  are  still  living  witnesses  to  prove  it,  always  favoured 
the  most  decisive  and  energetic  measures.  He  thought  it  a  folly  to  temporise,  and  insisted  that  cordial 
reconciliation  on  honorable  terms,  was  impossible.  When  the  news  of  the  repeal  of  the  stamp-act 
arrived,  and  the  whole  community  was  in  extacy  at  the  event,  he,  on  the  contrary,  received  it  with 
indignation.  And  privately  convening  a  party  of  his  friends  beneath  the  celebrated  Liberty-Tree, 
he  there  harangued  them  at  considerable  length  on  the  folly  of  relaxing  their  opposition  and  vigilance, 
or  indulging  the  fallacious  hope  that  Great  Britain  would  relinquish  her  designs  or  pretensions.  He 
drew  their  attention  to  the  preamble  of  the  act,  and  forcibly  pressed  upon  them  the  absurdity  of 
rejoicing  at  an  act  that  still  asserted  and  maintained  the  absolute  dominion  of  Great  Britain  over 
them.  And  then  reviewing  all  the  chances  of  succeeding  in  a  struggle  to  break  the  fetters  whenever 
again  imposed  on  then),  he  pressed  them  to  prepare  their  minds  for  the  event.  The  address  was 
received  with  silent  but  profound  devotion,  and  with  linked  hands,  the  whole  party  pledged  them- 
'solves  to  resist, — a  pledge  that  was  faithfully  redeemed  when  the  hour  of  trial  arrived.  The  author 
ix  in  possession  of  the  names  of  many  who  were  present. 

It  was  from  this  event  that  the  Liberty-Tree  took  its  name.  The  first  convention  of  South  Caro 
lina  held  their  meeting  under  it. 

*  Ramsay's  History  of  South  Carolina,  vol.  1.  p.  222.  t  Ibid.  267- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  267 

^nominally  existed,  the  country  was  actually  governed  by  committees  and  volun-   CITAS-. 
iary  associations,  to  whose  will  the  most  implicit  obedience  was  pnid.  v^-^w 

On  tlie  5th  September  1775,  the  exigencies  of  the  province  obliged  the 
governor  to  convene  an  assembly ;  but  the  first  and  only  step  they  took  wa* 
to  pass  a  vote  approving  the  resolutions  of  the  convention  of  July  1774;  and 
the  governor,  to  prevent  their  proceeding  further,  immediately  dissolved  them. 
Indeed,  they  had  to  proceed  by  concert  and  without  debate,  to  prevent  a  disso 
lution  before  the  vote  could  be  entered  on  their  minutes. 

On  the  11  th  January  1775,  the  first  revolutionary  provincial  congress  met, 
and  laid  the  foundation  for  the  more  regular  meeting  of  the  convention  of 
March  1776,  which  formed  the  first  constitution  of  South  Carolina. 

The  convention  of  1775  stamped  money,  established  a  court  of  admiralty 
to  condemn  British  vessels,  issued  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  on  the 
9th  November  1775,  authorized  the  commencement  of  hostilities  against  two 
of  his  majesty's  ships  then  lying  in  the  harbour;  having  previously  made  them 
selves  masters  of  the  royal  forts  that  commanded  the  place  of  their  mooring. 

In  April  1 776,  every  thing  was  in  active  preparation  for  approaching  hostili 
ties.  Intelligence  had  been  received  that  Charleston  would  be  honoured  with 
the  attention  of  their  enemy  as  soon  as  New  York,  their  primary  object,  should 
be  disposed  of.  The  conflict  was  anticipated  without  dread,  and  prepared  for 
with  wise  precaution.  The  state  had  raised  three  regular  regiments,  and  these, 
with  the  militia,  constituted  her  own  means  of  defence.  In  addition,  the  com 
mander  in  chief  had  ordered  on  two  regiments  under  Generals  Howe  and 
Armstrong,  and  the  abilities  and  experience  of  Major  General  Lee  were  called . 
into  requisition  to  command  the  whole.  The  reinforcements  arrived  just  at 
the  moment  when  they  were  wanted.  On  the  1st  of  June  the  enemy  appeared 
off  the  bar  of  Charleston,  and  between  that  and  the  28th,  landed  his  troops  on 
Long  Island,  and  advanced  on  Fort  Moultrie  with  two  heavy  ships  of  fifty 
guns,  four  frigates  rating  as  twenty-eights,  and  four  other  heavy  vessels. 

Colonel  Thomson  at  the  head  of  the  third  Carolina  regiment,  kept  the 
army  under  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  check,  at  the  east  end  of  Sullivan's  Island, 
where  they  meditated  an  attack  by  crossing  the  channel  that  separates  that  from 

Long  Island;  whilst  a  dreadful  conflict  was  maintained  between  Fort  Moultrie 

, 

and  the  fleet  under  Sir  Peter  Parker.  Here  Colonel  Moultrie  commanded  tho 
second  Carolina  regiment:  and  a  better  fought  day  ha>;  seldom  been  witnessed 

O  •> 

in  the  annals  of  warfare.  Its  termination  is  well  known.  The  British  fleet 
totally  discomfitted,  were  scarcely  in  a  condition  to  make  their  way  good  to 
New  York.  The  army  reimbarked,  and  the  enemy  retired  from  boforo 


6£  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Charleston,  strongly  impressed  with  respect  for  the  military  prowess  of  the 
^^^,  new  state. 

This  attack  had  been  long  in  contemplation,  and  a  co-operation  of  the 
Indians  on  the  western  frontier  had  been  arranged  by  the  infamous  John 
Stuart,  Indian  agent.  The  providential  capture  of  one  of  his  agents,  put  the 
world  in  possession  of  the  letters  which  proved  the  bloody  transaction,  and  the 
association  of  the  loyalists  in  this  savage  warfare  was  incontestibly  ascertained, 
by  the  capture  of  several  dressed  and  painted  like  Indians. 

Several  hundred,  men,  women,  and  children,  of  the  helpless  inhabitants  of 
the  frontier  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife.  But  it  drew 
a  much  greater  number  of  recruits  to  the  American  standard.  Horror  per 
vaded  all  classes  of  people  at  the  early  and  deliberate  employment  of  these 
savages  by  their  humane  ally.  And  many  of  the  most  respectable  loyalists 
became  ashamed  of  an  association  that  identified  them  with  the  perpetrators 
of  the  barbarous  cruelties  that  marked  the  progress  of  this  enemy.  Vengeance 
soon  followed  them :  the  whigs  collected  under  Colonel  Williamson,  and  in 
flicted  on  these  miserable  deluded  beings,  evils  under  which  the  nation  has 
ever  since  languished.  The  knowledge,  that  this  consequence  unavoidably 
follows  upon  inciting  this  unhappy  race  of  men  to  war,  is  not  among  the  least 
reproaches  that  should  fall  upon  the  nation  that  employs  them.  In  a  few 
months,  the  broken  remains  of  these  once  powerful  nations  were  obliged  to 
sue  for  peace,  and  of  course  obliged  to  make  great  sacrifices  of  territory  to 
obtain  it. 

The  result  of  this  campaign  was  highly  honourable  and  beneficial  to  Caro 
lina.  The  British  repulsed ;  the  Indians  chastised  and  driven  over  the  moun 
tains;  the  spirit  of  the  whigs  were  greatly  animated,  whilst  the  disaffected 
were  humbled  and  forced  to  fly  to  Florida,  or  purchase  their  safety  by  a  time 
serving  submission.  Nor  was  it  among  the  least  of  the  benefits  which  the 
whigs  derived  from  it,  that  they  were  initiated  into  practical  warfare,  and 
taught  to  cherish  confidence  in  themselves  from  the  brilliant  result  of  their 
maiden  efforts. 

Another  advantage  flowed  from  this  early  success ;  a  general  confidence  was 
diffused  in  the  security  of  Charleston  as  a  place  of  deposit  for  articles  of  mer 
chandize;  and  of  retreat  for  privateers. 

Whilst  the  British  were  occupied  in  their  fruitless  attempts  in  the  north,  and 
then*  large  fleets  were  engaged  in  watching  the  Chesapeake,  Delaware,  and 
New  York  Bays,  Charleston  was  for  two  years  secure  and  tranquil,  and  in  the 
enjoyment  of  an  extensive  and  lucrative  commerce.  But  sad  were  the  miseries 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  269 

that  ensued.    And  from  north  to  south,  no  state  suffered  as  South  Carolina  and  CHAP. 
Georgia  suffered,  for  the  three  or  four  last  years  of  the  war.  s^^-^/ 

It  was  not  until  the  close  of  the  year  1778,  that  the  enemy  again  directed 
their  attention  to  die  south.  For  two  years,  the  two  grand  armies  silently 
watched  each  other  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  while  die  war  was  raging  on 
the  ocean,  or  in  the  southern  states. 

On  the  27th  November  1778,  an  expedition  sailed  from  New  York  under 
Colonel  Campbell,  desdned  to  operate  against  Georgia.  Some  time  previous 
to  its  sailing,  orders  had  been  issued  to  General  Provost,  who  commanded  hi 
Florida,  to  penetrate  with  all  his  disposable  force  into  the  state  of  Georgia,  and 
co-operate  with  Campbell's  detachment  in  getting  possession  of  Savannah. 
These  orders  were  promptly  obeyed,  but  so  much  delay  attended  the  sailing  of 
the  expedition  from  New  York,  tiiat  Provost,  after  penetrating  to  Sunbury, 
was  obliged  to  retire  and  wait  its  arrival.  In  December,  Colonel  Campbell 
arrived  in  the  Savannah  River,  and  with  great  rapidity  got  possession  of  the 
capital  of  Georgia.  He  then  extended  his  line  of  posts  as  far  as  Augusta. 
He  was  soon  joined  by  Provost,  and  dieir  joint  force,  now  under  the  command 
of  the  latter,  consisted  of  5,000  men,  three  thousand  of  whom  were  regular 
troops. 

Upon  the  retreat  of  the  British  from  before  Charleston  in  1776,  General 
Lee  relinquished  die  command  of  the  southern  department  to  General  Howe, 
and  rejoined  the  grand  army.  Upon  the  arrival  of  Campbell  before  Savannah, 
he  found  Howe  in  command,  with  the  poor  remains  of  an  army  that  had  been 
broken  and  dispirited  by  an  expedition  undertaken  in  die  most  sickly  part  of 
the  preceding  summer  against  Florida.  Great  as  was  the  boast  of  the  enemy 
of  his  success  against  Savannah,  the  truth  is,  that  Howe  had  not,  at  the 
time  of  die  attack,  more  than  six  hundred  regular  troops,  and  not  above 
one  diousand  militia,  to  cope  with  a  well-appointed  army  of  two  thousand 
picked  troops.  Yet  Howe's  reputation  suffered  greatly  from  the  events  of  that 
day. 

In  the  mondi  of  September  preceding,  Major  General  Lincoln  had  been 
appointed,  by  a  resolve  of  congress,  tosuperccdc  General  Howe,  and  simulta 
neous  with  the  arrival  of  the  enemy  in  Georgia,  was  that  of  Lincoln  in  South 
Carolina.  Without  delay  Lincoln  proceeded  with  his  whole  disposable  force 
to  the  support  of  Howe,  and  at  Purysburg,  on  the  South  Carolina  shore  of  the 
Savannah  River,  they  formed  a  junction.  A  reinforcement  under  General 
Ash  from  North  Carolina,  had  increased  their  force  nearly  to  an  equality  in 
numbers  with  the  enemy,  and  the  post  at  Purysburg  was  so  judiciously  chosen, 
as  to  oblige  Provost  to  recall  Campbell  from  Augusta,  and  concentrate  his 


270  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE, 

.CHAP,  forces  near  Hudson's  Ferry  upon  the  same  river,  a  little  below  the  mouth  of 
,  Briar  Creek. 

General  Lincoln  then  conceived  the  design  of  covering  the  interior  of  Geor 
gia,  by  pushing  a  party,  under  General  Ashe,  across  the  river  at  a  point  above 
the  position  of  the  British  army.  This  movement  led  to  the  melancholy  defeat 
at  Briar  Creek,  where  the  command  of  General  Ashe  was  totally  surprised  and 
dissipated.  This  unfortunate  event  reduced  Lincoln  to  the  necessity  of  re 
maining  inactive  until  he  could  collect  reinforcements  that  would  again  place 
him  in  a  condition  for  effective  operations.  It  was  not  until  the  19th  of  April 
1779,  that  his  reinforcements  arrived,  and  he  then  immediately  resolved,  with 
the  advice  of  a  council  of  war,  to  move  up  die  river,  and  by  crossing  into 
Georgia,  to  break  the  line  of  the  enemy's  posts,  and  operate  upon  his  left  or 
rear.  This  unfortunate  movement  brought  on  the  attack  upon  Charleston  of 
the  year  1779.  For  immedately  as  General  Provost  had  ascertained  the  inten 
tion  of  his  adversary,  and  that  he  had  removed  so  far  as  to  leave  Charleston 
exposed,  he  adopted  the  enterprizing  resolution  of  penetrating  to  that  place, 
which,  he  had  the  best  information  did  not  expect  and  was  not  prepared  for 
such  an  attack. 

On  the  25th  April,  with  2,000  of  the  elite  of  his  troops,  flanked  by  seven 
Jmndred  loyalists  and  Indians,  he  crossed  the  river  and  pressed  on  towards 
Charleston.  General  Moultrie  had  been  left  in  command  at  Purysburg,  with 
one  thousand  men,  chiefly  militia,  to  hold  Provost  in  check.  With  this  inferior 
force,  composed  of  materials  which  a  retreat  always  diminishes,  he  could  do 
nothing  more  than  retreat  before  his  enemy,  check  him  at  every  pass,  and 
throw  himself  into  die  town,  when  he  could  no  longer  keep  the  field.  It  was 
some  time  before  Lincoln  could  be  persuaded  that  this  movement  of  the  British 
general,  was  any  thing  more  than  a  feint,  to  recall  him  from  his  views  of  ope 
rating  in  Georgia.  But  when  the  real  object  was  ascertained,  the  American 
general  returned  with  all  possible  expedition,  to  defeat  the  enemy's  purpose. 
Yet,  but  for  the  zeal  of  the  citizens  and  the  firmness  of  Moultrie,  he  would 
have  arrived  too  late.  The  latter  had  opposed  every  possible  obstacle  to  his 
advance.  In  this  he  was  much  favoured  by  the  innumerable  streams  which 
cross  the  roads  leading  to  Charleston.  Although  the  distance  does  not  exceed 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles,  it  required  the  British  general  seventeen 
days  to  complete  the  march.  In  the  mean  time,  every  thing  was  in  activity  in 
Charleston.  Zeal  supplied  the  want  of  time,  and  no  hand,  however  unused 
to  labour,  refused  the  spade  or  the  axe.  A  breastwork  was  thrown  up  across 
the  neck  of  land  on  which  the  town  is  situated;  cannon  mounted;  abbatis 
planted;  the  woods  that  skirted  the  town,  and  would  have  protected  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  271 

advance  of  an  enemy,  felled;  houses  that  impeded  defence,  destroyed;  and,  CTIAP. 
in  fine,  a  state  of  preparation  produced   almost  unexampled  for  the  time  ^^^^, 
allowed. 

Yet  this  exemplary  zeal  of  the  citizens  was  near  being  rewarded  by  indelible 
disgrace.  Some  \vriters  have  slurred  over  this  page  of  the  history  of  the  state, 
and  well  were  it  if  the  fidelity  of  history  could  comport  with  the  suppression. 
It  is  too  true,  that  when  the  town  was  summoned  to  surrender,  a  proposition 
was  made  to  stipulate  for  a  neutrality  during  the  war.  Yet  this  was  not  made 
by  the  military  commander ;  Moultrie's  sense  of  honour  was  too  keen  to  admit 
of  a  thought  so  degrading,  and  so  inconsistent  with  the  engagements  of  the 
state  to  its  confederates  in  the  common  struggle.  The  civil  authority  made  it 
in  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  military  commander,  and  in  violation  of  the 
feelings  of  nine  tenths  of  the  citizens.  Fortunately,  it  was  rejected  by  the 
British  commander,  or  it  is  impossible  to  tell  what  would  have  been  the  con 
sequences.  The  citizens  would  not  have  submitted  to  it  without  sacrificing 
to  their  rage  the  authors  of  then-  disgrace.  Perhaps  an  unbridled  enemy 
might  have  entered  the  city  in  the  midst  of  civil  tumult.  With  the  loyalist  and 
the  Indian  in  his  retinue,  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  scenes  which  this 
would  have  led  to. 

It  is  common  for  those  who  wish  to  palliate  this  occurrence  to  assert,  that 
the  proposition  was  only  made  with  a  view  to  spin  out  the  negociation,  until 
time  could  be  afforded  for  the  arrival  of  Lincoln. 

Gratifying  indeed  would  it  be  to  the  feelings  of  a  native,  if  it  were  possible 
to  sustain  tliis  view  of  the  event.  But  would  such  a  motive  have  been  con 
cealed  from  Moultric,  who  commanded  the  garrison?  or  from  the  minority  of 
the  council?  one  of  whom  shed  tears  on  the  occasion  that  should  be  embalmed 
in  the  recollection  of  every  Carolinian.  We  have  the  unvarnished  tale  of 
Moultrie  himself  to  support  the  belief,  that  the  proposition  was  made  in  ear 
nest;  and  his  narrative  was  supported  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  many 
now  no  more.  But  the  minority  were  not  men  on  whom  such  a  measure 
could  be  imposed  while  there  was  an  effort  that  might  yet  prevent  it.  The 
deliberations  of  the  governor  and  council  were  required  to  be  kept  secret;  but 
it  is  a  fact,  although  hitherto  unrelated,  that  one  of  the  minority*  of  the  coun 
cil  communicated  to  some  of  the  citizens,  members  of  the  legislature,  then 
under  arms  at  the  hornworks,  that  such  a  measure  had  been  decided  on.  And 
solemnly  and  openly  was.it  there  declared,  that  the  lives  of  the  advocates  of 


*  General  Gadstkn. 


272  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CvmP'   ^ie  measiirc  shou^l  atone  for  the  disgrace  inflicted  on  the  country.     The 

v^r-v-x^  rcs°lye  was  made  known  by  tlicm  to  members  of  the  council,  and  how  far  this 

may  have  prevented  the  proposition  from  being  pressed  further  upon  the  British 

commander,  must  ever  rest  hi  conjecture.     The  negotiation  terminated  where 

it  ought  to  have  begun,  by  leaving  the  subject  widi  the  military  commander. 

"  I  will  then  save  the  city,"  was  the  plain  firm  answer  of  the  hero  of  the  28th 

.  of  June,  and  a  defiance  was  the  last  message  communicated  to  the  enemy.* 

That  night  Provost  decamped,  and  fearing  to  be  intercepted  by  Lincoln  at 
some  one  of  the  many  difficult  passes  on  the  road  by  which  he  had  advanced, 
he  took  shelter  on  the  islands  until  he  could  procure  the  means  of  secure  trans 
portation,  and  then  proceeded  to  Savannah ;  leaving,  however,  Colonel  I\f ait- 
land  with  a  strong  detachment  at  Port  Royal. 

In  the  occupation  of  these  positions  die  enemy  remained,  until  the  arrival  of 
Count  D'Estaing  in  the  month  of  September  following,  obliged  Provost  to 
collect  all  his  forces  and  concentrate  them  for  the  defence  of  Savannah. 

The  unfortunate  atack  on  that  place  on  the  8th  October,  blasted  all  the  high 
hopes  of  the  combined  armies  of  Lincoln  and  D'Estaing,  of  recovering  at  one 
blow  all  that  had  been  lost  in  the  south,  and  of  inflicting  a  wound  upon  royal 
power  from  which  it  would  scarcely  have  recovered  in  diat  quarter ;  and  which 
would  have  saved  oceans  of  blood,  and  prevented  the  exhibition  of  scenes  of 
barbarous  warfare  of -which  the  details  would  shock  an  Arab.  When  the 
French  fleet  first  arrived,  their  army  might  have  landed  at  several  points  on 
the  south,  and  marched  into  the  town.  The  delay  from  the  9th  September  to 
the  8th  October,  was  fatal.  Yet  even  at  the  last  moment  the  attack  might 
have  succeeded  had  not  the  treachery  of  a  deserter  assisted  the  vigilance  of 
the  enemy  in  making  dispositions  to  meet  it;  and  had  all  the  corps  of  the 
American  army  fought  with  equal  bravery. 

The  failure  of  the  attack  on  Savannah  was  the  precursor  of  the  loss  of 
Charleston,  and  the  reduction  of  the  southern  provinces.  Immediately  after 
that  event,  D'Estaing  had  left  the  American  coast,  and  his  mortification,  disap- 


*  We  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  all  the  members  of  this  council,  as  the  journals  of  that  time 
cannot  be  found.  A  diligent  search  has  been  made,  but  the  book  containing  those  journals  is  not  in 
the  secretary's  office,  where  it  ought  to  be.  In  the  minutes  of  the  court  of  equity  for  April  1779, 
which  jurisdiction  was  then  exercised  by  the  governor's  council,  we  find  the  court  consisting  of  the 
lieutenant  governor,  C.  Gadsden,  C.  Pinckney,  J.  Ferguson,  R.  Smith,  J.  Parker,  J.  Neufville,  J. 
Edwards,  and  J.  Miller.  Moultrie  relates  that  Mr.  Gadsden,  Mr.  Ferguson,  and  Mr.  Edwards,  voted 
against  the  proposition. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  273 

pointment  and  actual  loss,  made  it  improbable  that  lie  would  ever  return.   CHAP. 
There  were  then  many  concurrent  causes  that  invited  an  attack  on  Charleston,  v^^-^/ 

Howe's  unfortunate  expedition  against  Florida  had  totally  broken  up  the 
-southern  army.  The  Carolina  regiments  were  thinned  down  by  sickness  to  a- 
mere  handful;  the  northern  regiments  that  had  been  sent  on  with  Howe  and 
Armstrong  had  also  melted  away,  chiefly  by  the  expiration  of  their  term  of 
enlistment;  and  the  Georgia  regiment  had  nearly  all  been  made  prisoners  at 
different  times,  and  perished  in  the  prison-ships.  The  quiet  possession  of 
Georgia  also  gave  such  countenance  to  the  loyalists  and  Indians  as  to  secure  a 
powerful  co-operation  to  the  enemy  from  that  quarter.  Of  the  loyalists,  great 
numbers  had  fled  from  JSorth  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  and 
taken  refuge  in  Florida  and  the  Indian  nation.  These  now  began  to  collect 
from  all  quarters  under  cover  of  Provost's  army,  and  either  to  add  to  the 
strength  of  die  enemy,  or,  united  in  formidable  bodies,  to  hunt  down  and 
distress  the  whigs,  so  that  many  of  them  were  forced  in  their  turn,  to  desert 
their  plantations  and  transport  their  families  beyond  the  mountains.  It  was 
obvious,  that  the  possession  of  Charleston  would  complete  the  British  ascend 
ancy  in  the  south,  and  should  the  southern  army  fall  with  it,  the  reduction  of 
the  whole  state,  and  most  probably  of  North  Carolina,  must  ensue.  Besides 
which,  Charleston  was  die  strong  hold  for  the  privateers  and  their  prizes,  and 
supplied  the  wants  of  a  great  part  of  the  United  States,  during  the  interrupted 
state  of  commerce  to  the  north.  Such  too  was  the  confidence  reposed  in  this 
post  as  a  place  of  security,  that  very  considerable  magazines  had  been  col 
lected  in  it,  and  it  always  contained  shipping  of  considerable  value ;  nor  was 
there  a  place  on  the  continent  which  held  out  greater  allurements  to  those  who 
pursued  plunder  instead  of  honourable  warfare;  and  the  work  of  rapacity  and 
sequestration  had  already  been  successfully  earned  on  under  the  auspices  of 
General  Provost.  As  furnishing  the  means  of  subsistence  to  an  array,  no  place 
held  out  greater  temptations  than  this.  The  country  was  productive  in  rice 
and  other  articles  of  bread,  and  the  woods  had  swarmed  with  hogs  and  cattle. 
The  enemy  also  well  knew  the  embarrassments  of  die  state,  in  common  with 
all  the  others,  in  procuring  men  or  money.  Nothing  but  a  paper  of  mere 
nominal  value  was  to  be  had,  and  the  reader  will  judge  how  far  this  was  ade 
quate  to  tempt  men  to  enlist,  when  seven  hundred  dollars  was  the  price  of  a 
pair  of  shoes.  In  fact  it  was  impossible  to  fill  up  the  regiments,  and  the  six 
which  then  belonged  to  South  Carolina,  mustered  but  800  men.  Nor  could 
this  defect  be  supplied  by  militia,  for  besides  the  apprehensions  reasonably 
excited  from  leaving  their  plantations  unprotected,  and  being  cooped  up  in  a 
•town  during  a  siege,  and  from  thence  transported  to  a  prison-ship ;  die  small- 

35 


274  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CH<P.  pox  had  made  its  appearance,  and  very  few  of  the  colonists,  and  none  of  their 

^-v-^,  slaves  had  had  this  dreaded  (now  vanquished)  disease.     The  actual  situation 

of  this  state  at  that  time,  has  called  forth  from  an  enemy  this  confession: 

"  That  it  must  ever  appear  a  paradox  to  future  times  how  the  Americans  were 

enabled  so  long  to  keep  up  the  conflict." 

The  British  force  destined  to  act  against  Charleston  embarked  at  New  York 
the  26th  of  December  1779.  As  soon  as  their  destination  was  ascertained,  a 
reinforcement  of  1,500  men  of  the  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  lines,  were 
sent  on  by  order  of  congress,  and  two  frigates,  a  twenty-gun  ship,  and  a  sloop 
of  war,  dispatched  for  the  same  purpose.  Feeble  as  was  this  contribution  to 
the  defence  of  the  place  when  compared  with  the  army  that  was  sent  against 
it,  it  was  the  utmost  that  the  reduced  resources  of  die  congress  admitted  of 
their  making. 

The  commander  in  chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America,  took  command 
in  person  of  die  army  destined  to  act  against  Charleston;  and  to  secure  him 
self  against  a  reiteration  of  the  disgraceful  issue  of  the  expedition  of  1776,  he 
omitted  nothing  which  his  ample  resources  could  command  to  secure  suc 
cess.  Arbuthnot  also,  chief  in  the  naval  command  in  America,  convoyed  his 
transports,  and  conveyed  to  the  scene  of  action  an  immense  supply  of  arms 
and  munitions  of  war.  At  least  10,000  chosen  men,  with  heavy  battering 
cannon,  and  all  the  instruments  of  destruction  or  annoyance  which  the  malice 
of  man  against  man  has  ever  brought  into  requisition,  were  landed  from  the 
6cet  on  John's  Island  by  die  llth  February  1780. 

When  the  news  of  the  intended  attack  reached  Charleston,  the  assembly 
was  in  session.  Although  there  were  not  at  that  time  above  800  regular  troops 
in  the  state,  and  the  defences  of  Charleston  in  the  most  miserably  dilapidated 
or  unfinished  state,  the  assembly  with  one  voice  resolved  to  defend  it  to  the 
utmost;  and  vesting  Mr.  John  Rudedge,  then  governor,  with  dictatorial 
powers,  they  adjourned  to  add  their  personal  influence  to  the  general  efforts 
in  preparation  for  defence.  The  siege  of  Charleston  is  a  prominent  event  in 
the  history  of  the  American  war.  It  was  the  only  instance  in  which  American 
firmness  was  tried  during  the  toils  and  dangers  of  a  protracted  siege.  The 
issue  was  unfortunate,  and  thus  the  grand  criterion  of  opinion  not  only  in 
military,  but  in  all  human  affairs,  decided  against  the  prudence  of  sustaining 
it  But  as  to  the  conduct  of  those  who  defended  the  place,  there  never  was 
but  one  opinion.  There  were  not  in  the  place  at  any  one  time,  above  four 
thousand  combatants,  consisting  of  twenty-three  hundred  regular  troops,  and 
the  rest  citizens  and  sailors.  The  enemy,  after  the  capture,  by  taking  into 
account  every  male  in  the  place  from  seventeen  years  and  upwards,  made  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  275 

number  much  greater;  as  they  also  managed  to  swell  the  artillery  to  a  most  CITAP. 
extravagant  return,  by  taking  into  account  every  swivel  lying  on  the  wharves,  X^-N/-^,. 
as  well  the  guns  substituted  for  posts  at  the  corners  of  the  streets.  Five  thou 
sand  good  troops  are  perhaps  as  many  as  could  be  brought  to  operate  to  ad 
vantage  in  a  close  siege  in  so  small  a  place.  General  Lincoln  had  been  pro 
mised  by  the  two  states  of  North  and  South  Carolina  as  many  as  nine  thou 
sand,  and  had  that  force  been  collected,  he  would  probably  have  kept  the 
field  with  the  greatest  number;  and  finally  have  succeeded  in  relieving  the 
besieged.  Indeed,  the  provision  laid  in,  was  not  more  than  adequate  for  the 
actual  number  of  the  garrison,  for  it  began  to  fail  before  the  surrender.  From 
which  circumstance  and  various  others,  it  is  inferred,  that  Lincoln's  expectation 
was,  that  six  or  seven  thousand  men  would  be  advanced  upon  the  rear  of  the 
besiegers,  in  which  case  they  would  undoubtedly  have  retired,  or  at  least  been 
obliged  to  divide  their  forces  and  attention.  He  was  also  obviously  misled  in 
another  very  important  point.  He  supposed  that  the  same  forts  which  in 
1776  had  proved  so  successful  in  repelling  the  enemy,  would  no\v  be  sufficient 
to  prevent  his  ships  from  approaching  the  town.  In  this  he  was  soon  made 
sensible  of  his  error.  The  castle  which  at  present  commands  the  anchoring 
ground  near  the  city,  was  not  then  in  existence;  and  profiting  by  former  expe 
rience,  the  enemy  with  litde  loss,  passed  the  forts  and  occupied  positions  which 
enabled  him  to  cut  off  the  communication  between  the  forts  and  the  city,  and 
in  a  great  measure  between  the  city  and  the  country. 

Yet  the  defence  wras  protracted  from  the  29th  March  to  the  12th  May;  and 
all  the  hardships  and  toils  of  it  sustained  by  every  description  of  troops  in  the 
garrison,  with  a  patience  and  cheerfulness  that  ever  called  forth  the  most 
ardent  and  grateful  acknowledgments  of  their  venerable  commander. 

Yet,  under  every  disappointment  it  was  very  much  doubted  at  the  time  of 
the  surrender,  whether  victory  was  not  hovering  over  the  American  standard, 
just  at  the  moment  when  she  was  driven  away  by  one  of  those  untoward 
accidents  which  no  foresight  of  a  commander  can  guarantee  him  against. 
The  siege  had  evidently  been  protracted  much  beyond  the  calculations  of  the 
British  commander.  A  division  of  the  French  fleet  was  hourly  expected  on 
the  coast;  preparations  were  known  to  be  in  forwardness  to  co-operate  with  it 
against  New  York ;  rumours  prevailed  of  the  approach  of  militia  and  regular 
troops  from  the  neighbouring  states;  and  two  corps  were  then  actually  on  their 
march  towards  Charleston,  whilst  Mr.  Rutledge  was  scouring  the  country 
.and  thundering  his  anathemas  to  rouse  the  militia  to  action.  And  it  was 
asserted  and  generally  believed  after  the  fall  of  the  city,  that  preparations  were 
in  forwardness  for  raising  the  siege,  when  accident  threw  a  letter  into  the  band? 


276"  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   of  the  British  commander,  that  determined  him  to  persist,  whilst  it  cast  a 
v^^^,  gloom  over  the  spirits  of  the  besieged. 

It  was  thought  necessary  to  send  some  intelligence  to  the  governor ;  and  his 
brother,  Mr.  Edward  Rutledge,  was  selected  for  die  purpose.  A  more  faithful 
and  devoted  agent  could  not  have  been  chosen ;  but  his  confidence  in  a  friend 
and  connexion,  betrayed  him  into  an  act  of  indiscretion  the  ultimate  effects  of 
which  must  ever  remain  to  be  regretted.  This  was  to  take  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Benjamin  Smith,  addressed  to  his  lady,  then  at  her  father's  in  North  Carolina. 
As  the  roads  were  now  every  where  beset,  the  communcation  to  the  governor 
was  confided  to  Mr.  Rutledge  orally,  and  it  is  understood,  with  the  strictest  in 
junctions  to  take  no  written  communications  from  the  garrison.  A  letter  ad 
dressed  by  a  friend  to  his  lady,  under  an  assurance  that  it  was  only  a  family  let 
ter,  Mr.  Rutledge  unwarily  considered  as  no  violation  of  his  instructions.  He  was 
captured  soon  after  he  left  the  city,  and  printed  copies  of  the  letter  were  next 
day  thrown  into  the  garrison  in  blank  bomb-shells,  and  most  unaccountably, 
through  a  secret  agency,  disperssd  through  all  parts  of  the  city  in  printed 
handbills.  The  letter  plainly  told  that  the  garrison  must  soon  surrender,  their 
provisions  were  expended,  and  Lincoln  only  prevented  from  capitulating  by  a 
point  of  etiquette.  From  that  time,  hope  deserted  the  garrison,  whilst  the 
re-animated  efforts  of  the  enemy  showed  the  excitement  revived  amonst  them. 
Such  is  the  precariousness  of  military  fame !  Had  the  siege  been  raised,  the 
hoary  head  of  the  highly  respectaole  man  who  commanded  in  the  town,  would 
have  been  encircled  with  imperishable  laurels.  As  it  was,  he  retired  under  a 
great  deal  of  unmerited  censure,  to  be  no  more  called  into  service  in  die  field. 
The  fall  of  Charleston  was  followed  up  by  a  train  of  occurrences  fixing 
indelible  disgrace  on  the  British  arras,  but  calculated  to  exhaust  the  resources, 
break  the  spirits,  and  weaken  the  efforts  of  the  patriots  of  the  country.  The 
retreat  of  Provost  had  been  followed  by  scenes  of  devastation  and  pillage  that 
would  have  disgraced  a  horde  of  Tartars.  But  the  loyalists  and  Indians  who 
were  in  his  retinue  afforded  a  pretext  or  apology  for  these  transactions.  Now, 
however,  the  loyalists  were  excluded  from  participation.  It  was  the  perqui 
site  of  the  royal  troops :  and  the  commanders  themselves,  openly  shared  in  the 
proceeds  of  the  plunder.  Among  other  items,  two  thousand  stolen  negroes  are 
said  to  have  been  shipped  off  in  one  adventure ;  not  to  the  asylum  of  Sierra 
Leone;  that  was  an  after  thought;  but  to  find  a  market,  or  cultivate  planta 
tions  in  die  West  India  Islands.*  These  unhappy  wretches  occupied  the  decks 


*  Ramsay,  vol.  I.  p.  333. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  277 

of  the  vessels,  while  the  waistes  were  filled  with  die  spoils  of  the  plundered  CHAP. 

VIII. 

province. 

But  perhaps  the  presence  of  his  majesty's  fleet  sanctioned  this  plunder. 
Such  seems  to  be  the  British  doctrine.  Nothing,  however,  could  sanction  a 
deviation  from  an  honourable  compliance  with  the  articles  of  capitulation. 
Yet  it  is  certain  that  they  were  most  shamefully  violated  in  the  treatment  of 
the  prisoners. 

For  die  continental  troops  and  sailors  the  third  article  stipulates,  "  that  they 
shall  be  conducted  to  a  place  to  be  agreed  upon,  where  diey  shall  remain 
prisoners  of  war  until  exchanged.  While  prisoners,  diey  shall  be  supplied 
with  good  and  wholesome  provisions,  in  such  quantity  as  is  served  out  to  die 
troops  of  his  Britannic  majesty." 

Yet  it  is  most  certain  that  they  were  in  a  few  days  crowded  on  board  prison- 
ships,  in  opposition  to  remonstrances,  and  in  violation  of  previous  arrangement. 
There,  unaccustomed  to  confiement,  foul  air  and  bad  provisions  swept  them 
away  with  unexampled  rapidity.  Few,  very  few  survived  to  be  exchanged. 
Nor  was  this  treatment  without  an  obvious  motive.  Whilst  surrounded  with 
the  sick,  the  dead,  and  the  dying,  they  were  urged  to  enlist  in  the  royal  ser 
vice,  and  the  constancy  of  many  was  not  proof  against  the  horrors  that  sur 
rounded  them.  But  still,  "  I  cannot  bear  arms  against  my  country,"  was  the 
general  cry.  This  difficulty  was  obviated  by  a  proposition  that  they  should  be 
garrisoned  at  Pensacola.  The  temptation  took.  The  British  garrison  was 
withdrawn  from  that  place,  the  American  recruits  substituted,  and  they  have 
never  been  heard  of  more.  Nor  did  the  evil  rest  here ;  the  American  physi 
cian  and  attendants  were  removed  from  the  hospital,  that  the  British  agents 
might  be  at  liberty  to  operate  with  the  greater  effect  upon  the  minds  of  men 
just  snatched  from  the  jaws  of  death,  and  presented  with  the  alternative  of 
returning  to  the  abhorred  prison-ship/*  or  enlisting  in  the  British  service.! 
Finally,  we  have  the  authority  of  the  venerable  hero  of  the  23th  of  June  for 
asserting,  that  when  arts  had  failed,  compulsion  was  resorted  to,  and  several 
hundred  men  were  forced  away,  many  of  them  from  their  families,  shipped 
off  to  Jamaica,  and  there  made  to  serve  in  Sir  C.  Montagu's  regiment.  The 
following  pathetic  letter  of  Moultrie  on  the  subject,  was  not  even  honoured 
with  an  answer:  "  What  I  am  now  to  remonstrate  against,  is  a  violent  and 
inhuman  breach  of  the  capitulation;  which  is,  in  pressing  the  American  sol 
diers  from  on  board  the  prison-ships,  taking  them  away  by  violence,  and 


*  Ramsay,  vol.  1.  p.  333~.  t  Moultrie's  Revolution,  p.  143,  151,  159- 


278  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  sending  them  on  board  the  transports  to  be  carried  away  from  the  continent 
s^s^./ of  America,  many  of  them  leaving  wives  and  young  children,  who  mav  pos 
sibly  perish  for  the  common  necessaries  of  life.     If  I  cannot  prevail  upon  you 
to  countermand  this  violation  altogether,  let  me  plead  for  those  unhappy  ones 
who  have  families,  to  be  exempted  from  this  cruelty."* 

By  the  departure  of  General  Lincoln  for  the  northern  states  under  parole, 
Moultrie  was  the  senior  American  officer  then  in  captivity  at  Charleston.  It 
was  not  with  indifference  that  he  witnessed  the  reiterated  violations  of  faith 
exhibited  in  that  place  by  the  conquerors ;  but  his  remonstraces  were  in  vain, 
and  finally  drew  forth  from  the  tyrannical  Balfour  this  haughty  reply:  "I 
shall  do  what  I  think  best  for  his  majesty's  service  towards  the  prisoners.''! 
Let  those  who  would  be  further  informed  on  this  subject,  peruse  the  letter  of 
a  man  of  high  character,  Dr.  Peter  Fayssoux.J  It  presents  a  striking  picture 
of  barbarous  and  unprincipled  conduct  on  one  hand,  and  magnanimous  suffer- 
ing  on  the  other. 

For  many  months  whilst  the  British  were  in  possession  of  Charleston,  were 
the  covered  carts  bearing  away  the  dead,  continually  passing  between  the 
prison-ships  and  the  grave-yard.  With  a  benevolence  that  ever  characterized 
the  ladies  of  Charleston,  they  formed  little  associations  to  relieve  the  distresses 
of  these  poor  martyrs  of  liberty.  The  benign  example  spread  even  to  the 
lowest  orders  of  the  tender  sex;  and  among  the  most  conspicuous  of  those 
\vho  poured  oil  and  wine  into  the  wounds  of  the  obscure  sufferer,  was  a  poor 
Magdalen,  whose  youth  had  wanted  the  hand  of  religion  to  guide  it,  but  whose 
heart  ever  retained  a  benevolence  which  secured  her  a  portion  of  esteem  even 
among  the  virtuous  of  both  sexes.  When  the  messenger  of  death  summoned 
her  to  another  world,  the  last  tokens  of  respect  were  paid  her  by  hundreds  of 
respectable  citizens,  who  followed  her  remains  to  the  grave,  commemorating 
her  active  benevolence,  and  regretting  that  such  a  heart  should  ever  become 
the  victim  of  the  remorseless  seducer. 

But  the  most  conspicuous  violations  of  candour  and  good  faith  were  exhi 
bited  in  then*  conduct  towards  the  citizens  who  had  been  made  prisoners. 

In  the  articles  of  capitulation  Lincoln  appears  to  have  been  completely 
overreached  by  his  more  wary  adversary,  or  rather  he  appears  to  have  treated 
like  a  soldier,  while  the  other  practised  the  finesse  of  the  special  pleader.  In 
his  original  propositions  for  surrender,  Lincoln  had  endeavoured  to  exempt 
from  captivity  the  citizens  who  had  fought  under  him.  He  was  aware  of  the 


*  -Moultrie,  vol.  2.  p.  194.  *  Ibid.  14?.  J  Ibid.  397. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  279 

danger  to  which  their  persons  would  be  exposed ;  and  his  enemy,  as  Well  aware  CHAP. 
of  the  danger  of  releasing  the  lion  from  the  toils  now  thrown  around  him.  s^^-^, 
For  some  time  the  negotiation  was  suspended  on  this  point,  until  the  citizens 
made  a  voluntary  sacrifice  of  the  exception  interposed  in  their  behalf  In  the 
articles  then  submitted,  on  the  renewal  of  the  parley,  the  American  general 
proposed,  "  that  the  citizens  should  be  protected  in  then*  persons  and  proper 
ties."  In  that  substituted,  the  British  general  stipulates,  "  that  all  civil  officers, 
and  the  citizens  who  have  borne  arms  during  the  siege,  must  be  prisoners  on 
on  parole ;  and  with  respect  to  their  property  in  the  city,  shall  have  the  same 
terms  as  are  granted  to  the  militia."  The  article  referred  to  as  defining  the 
terms  granted  to  the  militia,  is  in  these  words :  "  The  militia  now  in  garrison 
shall  be  permitted  to  return  to  their  respective  homes  as  prisoners  on  parole  ; 
which  parole,  as  long  as  they  observe,  shall  secure  them  from  being  molested 
in  their  property  by  the  British  troops." 

Little  did  Lincoln,  or  the  whigs  who  fought  under  him,  suppose  at  the  time, 
that  these  articles  held  out  no  security  to  the  persons  of  the  latter ;  that  they 
were  liable  to  be  treated  as  rebels  and  traitors.  If  such  had  been  their  idea 
while  they  had  arms  in  their  hands,  desperate  and  bloody  must  have  been  the 
contest  before  surrender.  But  they  very  reasonably  concluded,  that  being 
received  as  prisoners  of  war y  entitled  them  to  the  rights  of  civilized  warfare; 
that  an  express  stipulation  secured  their  property  in  town,  whilst  the  general 
reference  to  the  terms  granted  the  militia,  protected  that  part  of  their  property 
which  lay  in  the  country.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  prisoners  of  this 
description  having  both  town  and  country  property,  and  occasionally  occu 
pying  one  or  the  other,  in  a  liberal  construction  were  actually  comprehended 
under  the  general  term  militia. 

But  they  soon  found  that  neither  person  nor  property  was  secure ;  and  that 
the  articles  of  capitulation  were  little  more  than  a  mere  ruse  de  guerre  to  con 
quer  without  fighting.  Or  perhaps  his  majesty's  officers  did  riot  hold  them 
selves  bound  to  keep  faith  with  rebels.  Certain  it  is  that  immediately  after 
the  capitulation  a  most  vexatious  persecution  was  set  on  foot;  and  unprovoked 
aggressions,  bc:h  on  property  and  person,  committed  with  the  sole  view  to 
break  down  the  spirits  of  the  whigs,  and  oblige  them  to  return  to  their  original 
allegiance ;  and  finally,  after  ascertaining  those  whose  resolution  there  was  no 
hope  of  subduing,  they  were  suddenly  seized  in  their  houses  by  an  armed  sol 
diery,  torn  from  their  families  and  transported  to  St.  Augustine. 

The  pretext  at  first  was.  that  they  had  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  to  get  posses 
sion  of  the  town;  but  when  their  accusers  were  demanded,  and  a  triul  braved 
and  solicited,  it  was  poorly  excused  as  "  a  measure  of  policy."  Yet  these  were 


280  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


CviuP'   ^IG  men  °n  wnom  Andre  afterwards  wished  to  draw  down  vengeance  for  his 
x-v^/  forfeited  life.     The  truth  is,  their  presence  was  thought  to  prevent  many  from 
submitting  to  the  royal  government,  and  their  eye  was  a  continual  reproach  to 
the  dastardly  spirits  who  had  already  joined  the  royal  standard. 

Colonel  Taricton  has  asserted  that  "  some  papers  taken  hi  the  baggage  of 
the  American  general  officers,  (at  Gates7  defeat,)  and  other  collateral  intelli 
gence,  displayed  the  late  opinions  and  conduct  of  many  of  the  principal 
inhabitants  of  Charleston.  Upwards  of  thirty  of  that  description,  since  they 
had  received  pardon  and  protection  from  the  British  commanders,  had  held 
treacherous  correspondence  with  the  armed  enemies  of  England,  or  had  been 
indefatigably  engaged  in  secretly  advancing  the  interests  of  congress  through 
out  South  Carolina.  An  order  was  immediately  given  to  secure  the  persons 
of  those  individuals  who  had  violated  their  engagements.  The  accused  were 
committed  to  prison-ships,  and  from  thence  conveyed  to  confinement  at  St. 
Augustine." 

It  is  some  gratification  to  the  injured,  when  his  oppressor  acknowledges- 
some  apology  necessary.  But  whatever  may  be  the  evasions  or  artifices  which 
opinion  sanctions  in  military  or  political  life,  he  who  assumes  the  character  of 
an  historian,  enters  into  solemn  compact  with  the  world  to  observe  a  respect 
for  truth.  Nothing  can  be  more  destitute  of  foundation  than  the  accusation 
made  by  Colonel  Tarleton  against  the  individuals  who  were  exiled  to  St. 
Augustine.  It  would  surely  have  been  an  easy  matter  to  confront  the  accused 
with  evidence  thus  obtained.  No  considerations  of  policy  could  require  the 
suppression  of  papers  taken  in  battle;  and  if  the  British  commander  was  not 
above  all  obligations  to  respect  the  opinions  of  the  world,  what  would  have 
been  easier  than  to  refer  the  case  of  these  prisoners  to  the  scrutiny  of  a  court- 
martial  ? 

Another  motive  for  this  conduct  suggests  itself  from  concurrent  circum 
stances.  Cornwallis  had,  after  the  defeat  of  Gates,  commenced  his  career  of 
blood;  he  had  hung  several  respectable  men  at  Camden.  Retaliation  might 
ensue;  many  British  officers  were  prisoners,  and  others  might  become  so. 
The  secure  possession  of  these  respectable  victims  as  hostages  might  be  re 
sorted  to,  as  the  means  of  saving  the  lives  of  those  who  had  excited  the  vindic 
tive  passions  of  the  Americans.  In  the  case  of  Andre  this  was  actually  re 
sorted  to  ;  and  at  a  subsequent  period  also,  in  the  case  of  Colonel  Browne,  on 
the  fall  of  the  British  post  at  Augusta. 

The  subjoined  letters  will  show  that  the  conduct  of  the  British  commander 
was  not  passed  unnoticed  by  the  proper  authority,  and  exhibit  a  specimen  of 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  281 

the  stately  step  with  which  the  representative  of  majesty  strode  over  the  necks   CHAP. 

•  viii 

df  his  enemies.  ^-v->^- 

• 

General  Moultrie  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bulfour. 

"September  1st,  1780, 
«  SIR, 

"  On  my  perusing  the  paper  of  the  29th  August,  published  by  authority, 
to  my  astonishment  I  find  a  paragraph  to  tliis  effect :  *  The  following  is  a  cor 
rect  list  of  prisoners  sent  on  board  the  Sandwich,  yesterday  morning;'  and 
underneath  the  names  of  a  number  of  the  most  respectable  gentlemen,  inha 
bitants  of  this  state,  most  of  whose  characters  I  am  so  well  acquainted  with, 
that  I  cannot  believe  they  would  have  been  guilty  of  any  breach  of  their 
paroles  or  any  article  of  capitulation,  or  done  any  thing  to  justify  so  rigorous  a 
proceeding  against  them.  I  therefore  think  it  my  duty  as  the  senior  continental 
officer  prisoner  under  the  capitulation,  to  demand  a  release  of  those  gentlemen, 
particularly  such  as  are  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  that  act.  This  harsh  proceed 
ing  demands  my  particular  attention,  and  I  do,  therefore,  in  behalf  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  require  that  they  be  admitted  immediately  to  return 
to  their  paroles,  as  their  being  hurried  on  board  a  prison-ship,  and  I  fear 
without  being  heard,  is  a  violation  of  the  9th  article  of  the  capitulation.  If 
this  demand  cannot  be  complied  with,  I  am  to  request  that  I  may  have  leave  " 
to  send  an  officer  to  congress  to  represent  this  grievance,  that  they  may  inter 
pose  in  behalf  of  these  gentlemen  in  the  manner  they  shall  think  proper." 

ANSWER. 

"  Charleston,  September  ±th,  1780. 
«  SIR, 

"  The  commandant  will  not  return  an  answer  to  a  letter  wrote  in  such 
exceptionable  and  unwarrantable  terms,  as  that  to  him  from  General  Moultrie. 
dated  the  1st  inst. ;  nor  will  he  receive  any  further  application  from  him  upon 
the  subject  of  it. 

"  By  order  of  the  commandant. 

"G.  BENSON, 
"  To  General  Moultrie.  Major  of  Brigade.'' 

It  was  not  long  before  a  communication  from  the  same  quarter  openlj 
avowed  a  resolution,  to  set  all  restraints  from  the  articles  of  capitulation  abso 
lutely  at  nought.  This  was,  of  a  resolution  to  ship  all  the  prisoners,  officers. 

36 


282  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CVIHP'  rcSlu*ars'  anc*  militia,  oflf  to  the  West  Indies.     A  resolution,  the  execution  of 
^^^^  which  was  only  prevented  by  a  general  exchange  wliich  soon  after  took  place. 
The  transports  for  the  purpose  were  all  ready-prepared.* 

In  Charleston  the  whole  southern  army  fell,  and  the  effect  of  the  capture  of 
that  place  upon  the  whole  interior  country,  was  the  best  justification  of  Lincoln 
in  his  effort  to  preserve  it.  There  is  not  perhaps  a  seaport-town  on  the  con 
tinent,  so  necessarily  involving  in  its  fall  a  large  district  of  country,  as  tliis.  It 
is  the  natural  barrier  against  the  possession  of  all  the  country  lying  between 
the  waters  of  the  Savannah  and  Pee  Dee,  perhaps  the  Roanoke.  Accord 
ingly,  in  a  few  weeks  after  the  fall  of  the  city,  the  enemy  found  himself  in 
the  tranquil  possession  of  the  country  from  the  sea  nearly  td  die  mountains, 
with  the  exception  of  a  part  of  the  present  districts  of  York  and  AVilliamsburg. 
The  inhabitants  very  generally  submitted,  and  either  were  paroled  as  prisoners, 
Or  took  protection  as  British  subjects.  The  few  small  parties  that  remained  in 
arms,  were  either  surprised  and  cut  to  pieces  by  Tarleton,  or  fled  into  the  state 
of  North^Carolina,  to  be  secure  from  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy.  But  human 
prosperity  is  ever  beset  with  snares,  and  seldom  can  uncontrolled  power  brook 
the  limits  of  reason  and  justice. 

It  was  at  this  very  time,  when  Lord  Cormvallis  was  boasting  that  there  was 
left  nothing  more  for  him  to  do  in  this  quarter,  that  he  was  preparing  the  causes 
that  led  to  the  expulsion  of  the  British  army.  Under  the  specious  names  of 
commissaries,  suttlers,  quarter-masters,  expresses,  foraging  parties,  and  a  thou 
sand  others,  the  country  now  swarmed  with  peculators  and  plunderers,  and 
although  his  majesty  was  regularly  charged  with  the  maintenance  of  his  troops, 
the  honest  commissary  found  the  means  of  maintaining  them  gratuitously  on  his 
part.  This  charge,  which  was  first  preferred  by  Dr.  Ramsay,  was  indignantly 
repelled  by  Mr.  Steidman;  and  it  is  but  justice  to  admit  the  bdief,  that  to  him 
the  conduct  of  his  inferiors  was  unknown,  and  would  have  been  reprobated 
by  him.  But  many  officers  of  high  standing  in  the  British  army  little  knew 
of  the  contempt,  and  insult,  and  imposition  that  the  dispersed  inhabitants  hud 
to  sustain,  either  from  authority  or  the  assumption  of  it. 

The  hopes  of  a  quiet  retreat  on  their  farms,  with  which  the  inhabitants  had 
condoled  themselves  in  submitting  to  the  conquerors,  were  soon  ascertained  to 
be  wholly  illusory.  Nor  were  they  suffered  to  remain  long  in  suspense  as  to 
the  requisitions  which  the  British  commander  meant  to  make  upon  them.  It 
was  very  soon  announced  to  the  loyalists,  or  diose  who  had  taken  protection. 


Moultrie,  vol.  2.  p.  178. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  283 

that  it  was  expected  of  them  to  embody  themselves  for  actual  service.  There  CHAP. 
\vcre  men  found  among  them,  and  many  of  these  young  men' of  family  andv^N^w 
fortune,  from  whom  their  country  had  expected  better  things,  who  accepted  of 
commissions ;  and  many  of  those,  whose  affections  were  with  the  royal  govern 
ment,  received  this  notification  without  repining.  But  to  the  great  majority 
of  the  loyalists  it  was  a  thunder  stroke.  Many  had  taken  protection  for  want 
of  nerves  to  support  the  conflict,  and  to  these  it  was  die  death  of  all  their 
hopes.  But  by  far  the  greater  proportion  of  those  who  had  adopted  this 
measure,  had  only  yielded  to  the  impulse  which  at  last  will  govern  the  actions 
of  men — the  dictates  of  natural  affection,  the  desire  of  enjoying  the  society. 
and  providing  for  the  wants  and  safety  of  their  families.  Yet  their  best  wishes 
were  with  their  countrymen,  and  they  had  no  idea  of  being  called  upon  to  take 
up  arms  against  them. 

This  measure  therefore  disgusted  great  numbers  of  those  who  had  returned 
to  their  allegiance,  and  converted  them  either  into  decided  enemies,  or  luke 
warm  friends.  It  was  not  long  before  this  measure  was  followed  up  by  ano 
ther  which  drove  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  to  renew  the  contest.  The 
following  is  the  account  given  of  this  undertaking  by  themselves. 

"  The  commander  accordingly,  in  settling  the  affairs  and  government  of  the 
province,  adopted  a  scheme  of  obliging  it  to  contribute  largely  to  its  own 
defence;  and  even  to  look  forward  to  future  security,  by  taking  an  active  part 
in  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  on  its  borders.  In  this  view  he  seemed  to 
admit  of  no  neutrals,  but  that  every  man  who  did  not  avow  himself  an  enemy 
to  die  British  government,  should  take  an  active  part  in  its  support.  On  this 
principle,  all  persons  were  expected  to  be  in  readiness  with  their  arms  at  a 
moment's  warning.  Those  who  had  families,  to  form  a  militia  for  home 
defence ;  but  those  who  had  none,  to  serve  with  the  royal  forces  for  any  six 
months  of  the  coming  twelve  in  which  they  might  be  called  upon  to  assist  *  in 
driving  their  rebel  oppressors,  and  all  the  miseries  of  war,  far  from  the  pro 
vince.'  Their  service  was,  however,  limited,  besides  their  own  province,  to 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  be)  oi-:d  the  boundaries  of  which  thev  were  not 
to  be  marched.  And  after  the  expiration  of  the  limited  term,  they  were  to  be 
free  from  all  future  military  claims  of  service,  excepting  the  local  militia  du 
ties."  * 

Thus  were  many  of  all  classes  of  people  disgusted  with  their  new  rulers. 
and  the  public  mind  very  generally  disposed  to  welcome  the  arrival  of  a  conti 
nental  army. 


Annual  Register,  1780,  p.  2* 


.284  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  In  the  iniclst  of  the  general  submission  which  followed  the  fall  of  Charleston, 
v^^-^  there  remained  a  few  unconquerable  spirits  whom  nothing  but  death  could 
quell.  These  were  Siimpter,  Marion,  and  Williams,  in  South  Carolina,  and 
Clarke  and  Twiggs  in  Georgia.  There  were  many  others  whose  hearts  were 
as  warm  in  the  common  cause,  but  circumstances  had  obliged  most  of  them 
to  yield  to  the  current  that  overwhelmed  the  country,  and  wait  until  some 
favourable  event  should  again  restore  them  to  a  capacity  for  action.  Of  these 
last  was  General  Pickcns,  who  had  ever  been  among  the  foremost  in  maintain 
ing  the  cause  of  the  revolution,  but  who,  together  with  the  whigs  of  his  neigh 
bourhood,  had  surrendered  himself  prisoner  and  received  his  parole. 

Clarke,  and  Twiggs,  and  Williams,  had  never  submitted,  and  were  for  ever 
in  motion,  harassing  and  waylaying  the  enemy;  but  their  force  was  seldom 
considerable.  Sumpter  and  Marion,  both  colonels  on  the  continental  estab 
lishment,  had  retired,  on  the  fall  of  Charleston,  into  North  Carolina;  not  to 
shun  the  war,  but  to  gather  the  means  of  carrying  on  that  partisan  warfare,  in 

•          which  they  both  afterwards  became  so  eminently  conspicuous. 

No  sooner  was  the  enemy  in  possession  of  the  city  than  they  entered  upon 
measures  for  securing  the  submission  of  the  remote  parts  of  the  state,  and 
pushing  their  conquests  into  North  Carolina.  A  party  under  Colonel  Wemys 
was  dispatched  to  take  possession  of  Georgetown,  and  his  posts  were  advanced 
up  the  Pee  Dee  to  the  line  of  that  state.  Another  under  Cornwallis  proceeded 
by  Nelson's  Ferry  to  Camden,  and  occupied  and  fortified  that  place.  A  third 
did  the  same  in  the  western  part  of  the  state  at  Cambridge,  the  county  town  of 
Ninety-Six  District,  the  most  extensive,  fertile,  and  populous  district  of  the 
state. 

Scarcely  had  these  arrangements  been  made  when  the  approach  of  the 
American  army  under  Gates  was  announced,  and  with  it  was  communicated 
intelligence  of  a  disposition  to  rise,  manifested  by  die  whigs  in  various  quarters 
of  the  state.  Lord  Rawclon  was  then  in  command  in  Camden.  Clinton  had 
been  called  away  to  New  York,  and  Cornwallis  had  been  summoned  to 
Charleston  to  assume  the  chief  command. 

•  The  number  of  British  troops  in  the  state  at  that  time,  is  variously  stated. 
Tarleton  acknowledges  5,400  effectives.*  The  least  computation  makes  it 
4,000, — a  number  quite  inadequate,  but  for  the  dependence  that  Clinton  had 
'been  led  to  repose  in  the  zeal  and  numbers  of  the  loyalists,  and  die  pacific 
appearances  every  where,  prior  to  his  departure.  But  it  was  the  calm  which 
rests  on  the  deep,  when  the  conflict  of  the  elements  is  concealed  in  the  clouds. 


Page  86. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  285 

The  moment  the  approach  of  Gates  was  announced,  the  flame  that  had   CHAP. 
been  covered  broke  out  in  various  places.     It  was  soon  apparent  that  neither  v^^-^ 
the  affections  of  the  people  had  been  conciliated,  nor  their  spirits  broken.    And 
now  prevailed  a  scene  of  horrors  almost  unexampled  in  the  history  of  modern 
warfare.     The  origin,  progress,  and  termination  of  the  private,  cold-blooded 
butchery,  which  so  often  occurred  in  these  states  during  the  last  two  years  of 
this  war,  and  gave  so  much  embarrassment  to  the  southern  commander,  require 
our  attention.     It  began  among  the  inhabitants,  but  was  consummated  by  the 
bloody  massacre  of  Colonel  Bufort's  command,  inflicted  by  Colonel  Tarleton. 

When  it  became  obvious  that  Charleston  must  sustain  a  siege,  Governor 
Rutledge  left  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  the  forces  that  were  expected 
to  advance  upon  the  rear  of  the  besieging  army.  To  promote  the  same  design, 
and  to  cut  off  the  supplies  of  the  enemy,  whilst  they  covered  the  embodying  of 
the  militia  in  their  rear,  Colonels  White  and  Washington  were  ordered  to  keep 
the  field  with  about  three  hundred  cavalry.  This  party  was  successively  sur 
prised  by  Colonel  Tarleton,  first  at  Monk's  Corner,  and  afterwards  at  Lenud's 
Ferry,  and  the  last  blow  nearly  annihilated  it.  Colonels  Washington  and 
White,  with  about  thirty  or  forty  men,  escaped  by  swimming  Santee  River. 

All  the  efforts  of  Governor  Rutledge  to  rouse  the  militia  proved  vain.  The 
small-pox  was  then  in  the  city,  and  tliis,  with  the  apprehension  of  being  shut 
up  and  undergoing  the  horrors  of  a  siege,  with  death  in  their  front  and  disease 
in  their  rear,  generally  deterred  the  country  militia  from  marching  to  join  the 
garrison ;  and  when,  afterwards,  the  attempt  was  repeated  to  collect  them  for 
the  purpose  of  obliging  the  enemy  to  raise  the  siege,  the  want  of  an  army  to 
cover  them  whilst  embodying,  and  the  terror  inspired  by  the  rapid  movements 
of  the  British  cavalry,  and  the  successful  blows  struck  by  Colonel  Tarleton, 
had  completely  prevented  every  movement  on  their  part. 

Virginia  had  made  two  efforts  to  push  forward  reinforcements  to  General 
Lincoln.  One,  under  Colonel  Portcrfielcl,  had  not  reached  the  line  of  the 
state  when  the  news  of  the  fall  of  the  town  warned  him  to  halt  and  wait 
events.  The  other,  under  Colonel  Bufort,  had  proceeded  as  far  as  Santee 
River,  when  the  success  of  the  enemy  imposed  on  him  the  necessity  of  com 
mencing  a  retreat.  The  remains  of  the  cavalry  who  escaped  the  sabres  of 
Tarleton's  legion  and  the  waters  of  the  Santee,  had  formed  a  junction  with 
Bufort^s  corps,  and  the  whole  formed  a  body  of  about  four  hundred  infantry 
and  forty  cavalry.  The  retreat  of  this  corps  was  considerably  impeded  by  a 
number  of  baggage  waggons,  transporting  a  supply  of  clothing,  and  other 
articles  of  infinite  value  to  the  service,  and  the  loss  of  which  was  not  easily  to 


286  .  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   be  replaced.     Vet  it  had  reached  the  Waxaw  settlement  before  it  was  over- 
v^-v-^^/  taken  by  Colonel  Tarleton. 

Immediately  as  Cormvallis  had  crossed  the  Santee,  Tarleton  had  been 
-  dispatched,  with  280  well  mounted  cavalry  and  infantry,  to  overtake  Bufort's 
-  party.  In  fifty-four  hours  they  made  a  journey  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
miles,  regardless  of  the  number  of  horses  killed  on  the  journey,  as  they  were 
easily  replaced  by  the  seizure  of  others  from  the  inhabitants  on  the  road.  Yet  the 
American  commander  was  apprized  of  his  approach,  and  had  a  force  amply 
sufficient  to  have  destroyed  his  fatigued  and  inferior  adversary.  The  strangest 
mismanagement  produced  the  destruction  of  Colonel  Bufort's  whole  command. 
They  were  cruelly  butchered  whilst  supplicating  for  quarters.  The  hacked 
condition  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  human  bodies  sufficiently  testified  the 
relentless  fury  of  the  victors,  while  their  own  loss  of  but  two  killed,  proves  that 
necessity  did  not  justify  it.  Colonel  Tarleton  excuses  it  on  the  ground  that  his 
own  horse  having  been  shot  under  him,  the  rage  of  his  men  proceeded  from 
a  report  that  their  commander  was  slain.  It  is  a  poor  apology  for  conduct 
which  his  own  dispatches  rather  boast  of  than  disapprove.  It  was  from  this 
event  that  cutting  down  the  suppliant  who  had  surrendered,  acquired  the 
epithet  of  "  Tarleton's  quarters;"  and  too  often  did  the  memory  of  this  event 
afterwards  lead  to  the  retaliation  of  die  horrors  that  attended  it.  Colonel 
Bufort  with  the  cavalry,  and  a  few  men  who  cut  horses  from  the  waggons, 
were  all  who  escaped.  Only  fifty-three  prisoners  were  taken,  for  only  fifty- 
three  were  in  a  condition  to  be  carried  off  behind  the  troopers,  and  the  wounded 
were  left  to  perish  on  the  field.  Nothing  but  the  humanity  of  the  neighbour 
ing  inhabitants  saved  any  of  them ;  and  very  small  indeed  was  the  number  that 
survived.  Six  of  these  unfortunate  men  were  not  long  after  casually  seen 
together,  four  of  whom  had  lost  both  their  arms,  and  the  other  two,  each  one 
arm.  Two  arms  remained  to  the  six. 

This  event  left  South  Carolina  without  a  single  organized  corps  for  its 
defence;  and  left  a  deep  and  ominous  impression  on  the  minds  of  the  inhabit 
ants.  Those  of  the  immediate  neighbourhood  in  which  it  occurred,  were  the 
first  who  resumed  their  arms,  and  they  never  afterwards  relinquished  them, 
until  the  enemy  was  expelled  from  their  country.  They  were  the  men  who 
first  embodied  under  Sumpter.  It  is  a  fact,  the  recording  of  which  is  due  to 
the  merits  of  a  particular  description  of  the  inhabitants  of  South  Carolina,  that 
the  settlements  which  furnished  the  partisan  corps  which  kept  up  the  spirit  of 
opposition  during  the  revolutionary  contest,  were  generally  composed  of  emi 
grants  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  or  their  descendants.  This  was  particularly 
the  case  with  Williamsburg,  the  Waxaws,  the  Calhoun  settlement  in  Ninety- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  287 

Six,  and  the  present  district  of  York.     On  the  other  hand,  where  the  Scotch  CHAP. 

VI II. 

interest  predominated,  the  leaning  of  the  inhabitants  was  very  general  towards  ^^^^ 
the  enemy.  This  was  the  case  with  the  Cunningham  settlement,  between  the 
Broad  and  Saluda  Rivers,  and  the  country  lying  between  the  great  and  little 
Pee  Dees.  And  the  observation  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  that  part  of  the 
state  of  North  Carolina  which  stretches  along  the  dividing  line  of  the  two 
states  from  the  coast  to  the  county  of  Mecklenburg.  The  dissentions  which 
arose  out  of  the  regulating  system,  and  converted  the  one  settlement  or  the 
other  into  whig  and  tory,  more  immediately  operated  upon  settlers  of  a  differ 
ent  description. 

As  die  epithet  of  whig  or  tory-settlement  frequently  occurs  in  the  history  of 
the  southem  war,  it  is  proper  to  observe,  that  in  most  parts  of  the  interior  of 
these  states,  the  population  for  some  miles  in  extent  is  derived  from  a  common 
origin.  A  few  Scotch,  Irish,  Dutch,  Virginia,  Maryland,  quaker,  presbyterian, 
or  baptist  families  would  sit  down  on  a  particular  spot  and  form  a  nucleus, 
around  which  a  circle  would  extend,  until  checked  by  approaching  the  circle 
of  some  other  settlement.  Sometimes  the  predominance  of  a  particular  name 
would  furnish  the  distinguishing  epithet  of  the  settlement;  sometimes  the 
country  from  which  the  settlers  emigrated,  and  not  unfrequently  die  sect  to 
which  they  belonged.  The  influence  of  early  associations,  or  of  leading  indi 
viduals,  generally  directed  the  politics  of  these  circles  to  the  same  point. 
Natural  attachments  and  antipathies  no  doubt  often  influenced  them  in  the 
party  they  espoused,  but  generally  where  the  American  or  Irish  influence 
predominated,  the  settlement  favoured  the  cause  of  the  revolution.  The  set 
tlement  of  the  interior  was  too  recent  to  have  formed  a  general  amalgamation, 
and  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  fine  country  that  stretches  along  between 
the  falls  of  the  rivers,  and  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  felt  very  little  attachment 
to  the  government  of  their  respective  states.  Very  little  had  been  the  protec 
tion  they  received  from  their  rulers  in  settling  that  country;  they  considered  it 
as  the  land  they  had  won  with  the  sword  and  the  spear,  and  had  only  felt  the 
government  by  the  exaction  of  fees  and  taxes,  not  by  the  participation  of  the 
benefits  expected  from  it.  But  fortunately  the  enemy  felt  too  confident  in 
themselves,  or  too  much  contempt  for  their  enemy,  to  act  with  moderation  or 
policy.  Amidst  the  infatuations  of  power  and  victory,  their  commanders  ap 
pear  to  have  forgotten,  that  a  nation  may  submit  to  conquest  but  never  to 
insult.  On  this  point  most  men  feel  cast  upon  themselves  for  revenge  or 
protection ;  and  that  nation  cannot  be  conquered  in  which  this  individual  feel 
ing  exists  in  all  its  force.  They  seemed  to  have  forgotten  also,  that  religion, 
which  looks  to  another  world  for  its  recompense  or  enjoyments,  becomes  the 


288  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  most  formidable  enemy  that  can  be  raised  up  in  this.  As  the  dissenters  of 
vx-v>^/  New.  England  had  the  reputation  of  having  excited  die  war,  dissenters  gene 
rally  became  objects  of  odium  to  the  enemy.  Hence  their  meeting-houses 
were  often  burnt  or  destroyed.  One  of  them  in  Charleston  was  converted 
into  a  horse-stable;  in  the  populous  settlement  of  Waxsaws,  their  minister  was 
insulted,  his  house  and  books  burnt,  and  bcllum  internecionis  declared  against 
all  the  bibles  which  contained  the  Scotch  version  of  the  Psalms.  The  author 
of  these  indignities  paid  for  them  with  his  life;  and  such  injuries  were  calcu 
lated  to  sink  deep  into  the  minds  of  men,  whose  ancestors  had  long  maintained 
a  pious  war  against  the  church  of  England,  and  who  had  lately  been  deliv 
ered  by  the  present  revolution  from  an  established  church.*  Great  were  the 
obligations  of  the  American  cause  to  the  licentiousness  and  folly  of  the  British 
commanders! 

The  foregoing  observations  are  not  applicable  to  the  quaker  and  Moravian 
settlements.  As  their  doctrines  are  abhorrent  of  war,  they  of  course  look 
with  an  unfriendly  eye  on  every  attempt  to  shake  off  an  established  govern 
ment.  Nor  are  they  applicable  to  the  Scotch  and  British  traders  who  had 
spread  through  the  interior  and  established  themselves  in  the  small  villages 
which  began  to  rise  in  situations  favourable  to  trade.  Their  affections  and 
those  of  their  retainers  were,  of  course,  under  the  influence  of  strong  national 
attachments,  and  wedded  to  the  power  which  they  supposed  best  able  to  pro 
tect  them  in  the  prosecution  of  their  business.  Their  influence  was  generally 
against  the  whigs  wherever  they  had  established  themselves.  Yet  there  were 
some  eminent  exceptions. 

From  the  first  commencement  of  the  revolutionary  ferment,  a  partisan  war 
fare  had  occurred  in  the  interior  between  the  whigs  and  tories.  The  royal 
governors  had,  at  a  very  early  period,  established  a  correspondence  with  seve 
ral  populous  settlements  in  all  the  southern  provinces.  How  much  soever  all 
parties  must  deplore  the  melancholy  consequences  which  resulted  from  these 
internal  dissentions,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  both  in  North  and  South  Carolina 
the  loyalists  were  the  aggressors.  As  early  as  November  1775,  a  party  of 
loyalists  between  Broad  and  Suluda  Rivers,  under  Patrick  Cunningham,  rose 
hi  arms  and  seized  a  quantity  of  gunpowder,  which  the  whigs  were  forward 
ing  as  a  present  to  the  Indians.  The  royal  governor  of  the  province,  appre 
hending  that  this  peace  offering  would  detach  the  savages  from  the  royal 
interests,  and  defeat  the  plan  which  had  already  originated  of  bringing  them 


*  Ramsay,  vol.  1.  p.  332. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  28 

upon  the  backs  of  die  whigs,  while  the  royal  army  attacked  them  in  front;   CHAP. 
rexcited  this  settlement,  (the  only  one  in  the  southern  states  in 'which  the 
outnumbered  the  whigs,)  to  commit  this  act  of  aggression.     This  was  the  first 
link  in  that  chain  of  causes  which  led  to  the  depopulation  of  this  beautiful 
tract  of  country. 

After  this  event,  it  was  not  until  the  enemy  overran  Georgia  that  the  tories 
again  appeared  in  arms.  But,  that  a  correspondence  had  been  kept  up  be 
tween  them  and  the  enemy,  was  obvious  from  the  promptness  with  which  they 
embodied  and  marched  to  join  the  enemy  as  soon  as  Campbell  advanced  to 
Augusta.  A  Colonel  Boyd  of  South  Carolina,  recently  arrived  from  New- 
York,  and  a  Major  Moore  of  North  Carolina,  were  die  leaders;  and  eight 
hundred  men  marched  under  dieir  standard.  The  South  Carolinians  and 
Georgians,  about  five  hundred  in  number,  commanded  by  Pickens,  Clarke, 
and  Dooley,  pursued,  attacked,  and  killed,  captured  or  dispersed  the  party. 
This  was  at  Kettle  Creek  in  Georgia.  Their  leader  fell,  and  not  more  than 
200  men  made  their  way  good  to  Augusta.  The  prisoners  were  delivered  to 
the  civil  magistrate,  tried  and  convicted,  and  seventy  of  them  sentenced  to 
suffer  death  as  traitors.*  All  but  five  were  pardoned,  and  the  political  rulers 
of  the  day  thought  the  example  of  the  execution  of  five  necessary  to  the  future 
tranquillity  of  the  state.  It  is  not  easy  in  the  midst  of  the  angry  passions  which 
influence  the  mind  in  civil  contests,  duly  to  estimate  the  value  of  lenient  coun 
sels.  But  consequences  soon  followed  upon  this  measure,  which  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  leading  whigs  to  the  danger  of  inflicting  punishment  even  under 
the  sanction  of  existing  laws.  When  men  are  taken  with  arms  in  their  hands 
prosecuting  open  war,  however  inconsistent  with  their  civil  duties  their  con 
duct  may  appear  to  the  victors,  it  is  dangerous  to  stretch  out  the  arm  of  civil 
power  against  them,  at  least  while  the  contest  is  still  raging. 

Colonel  Brown,  soon  after  this  event  was  placed  in  command  at  Augusta. 
History  has  preserved  the  memory  of  too  many  monsters  in  the  human  form; 
but  this  man  has  been  surpassed  by  none.  Yet  his  history  conveys  sonic  use 
ful  lessons.  It  proves  the  danger  of  inflicting  wanton  outrage  on  the  meanest 
of  human  beings,  and  the  fatal  consequences  that  ensue  from  indulging  popular 
licentiousness,  and  the  vindictive  passions  that  predominate  in  times  of  civil 
commotion. 

In  the  hour  of  festivity  Brown  had  indulged  himself  in  indiscreet  censure 
of  the  revolutionary  party.  He  had  done  worse, — he  had  committed  a  fault 


*  M4' Call's  History  of  Georgia. 

37 


290  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  less  easily  forgiven ;  he  had  ridiculed  them.  Being  apprised  that  their  rescnt- 
s^r^^v^  mcnt  was  excited,  he  attempted  to  escape;  but  he  was  closely  pursued,  brought 
back  to  Augusta,  tried  before  a  committee  of  surveillance,  and  sentenced  to  be 
tarred  and  feathered  and  carted,  unless  he  recanted  and  took  the  oath  of  alle 
giance  prescribed  by  the  administration  of  Georgia.  Brown  was  a  firm  man, 
and  resisted  with  a  pertinacity  that  should  have  commanded  the  respect  of  his 
persecutors.  But  the  motions  of  *a  mob  are  too  precipitate  to  admit  of  die 
intrusion  of  generous  feeling.  After  undergoing  the  painful  and  mortifying 
penance  prescribed  by  the  committee  without  yielding,  it  is  too  true  that  he 
was  doomed  to  have  his  naked  feet  exposed  to  a  large  fire,  to  subdue  his  stub 
born  spirit.  But  in  vain;  and  he  was  at  length  turned  loose  by  a  groupe  of 
men,  who  never  once  dreamed  that  die  simple  Indian-trader  would  soon  re 
appear,  an  armed  and  implacable  enemy.  He  first  visited  the  loyalists  of 
Ninety-Six,  concerted  his  measures  with  them,  then  made  his  way  to  St. 
Augustine,  received  a  colonel's  commission,  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
band  of  desperate  refugeess,  and  accompanied  Provost  in  his  irruption  into 
Georgia.  His  thirst  for  revenge  appeared  afterward  insatiable,  and  besides 
wantonly  hanging  many  of  his  prisoners,  he  subjected  the  families  of  thewhigs 
who  were  out  in  service,  to  accumulated  sufferings  and  distress.  It  was  not 
long  after  he  was  left  in  command  at  Augusta  by  the  British  general,  that 
Colonel  Clarke,  with  a  determined  party  of  the  militia  whose  families  he  had 
persecuted,  aimed  a  well-directed  blow  at  his  post.  But  Brown  proved  him 
self  a  man  of  bravery  and  conduct,  and  he  well  knew  that  at  all  times  he  was 
fighting  for  his  life.  After  a  severe  and  partially  successful  contest,  the  approach 
of  a  party  of  Indians  obliged  Clarke  to  retreat  and  leave  his  wounded  behind 
him,  with  a  letter  addressed  to  Brown,  requesting  that  he  would  parole  them 
to  their  plantations.  But  Brown's  thirst  for  revenge  knew  no  bounds ;  it  had 
been  irritated  in  tins  instance  by  a  wround  which  confined  him  to  his  bed. 
The  unhappy  prisoners,  twenty-eight  in  number,  were  all  hung;  thirteen  of 
them  were  suspended  to  the  railing  of  the  staircase,  that  he  might  feast  his  eyes 
with  their  dying  agonies.  This  he  justified  on  the  ground  of  the  execution  of 
the  prisoners  taken  at  the  defeat  of  Boyd,  and  of  a  sanguinary  order  of  Lord 
-Comwallis,  which  will  hereafter  be  noticed. 

Among  the  prisoners  thus  executed  were  many  of  high  respectability,  and 
one  youth  whose  conduct  merited  a  better  fate.  He  was  but  fifteen  years  of 
age;  his  brother,  but  two  years  older,  was  wounded  and  fell  beside  lum.  lie 
jrefused  to  leave  him,  and  they  perished  together  on  the  gallows. 

The  outrage  did  not  end  here;  the  bodies  were  given  up  to  the  savages  to 


MAJOR  GENERAL  fcREENK.  29 

be  scalped,  mangled,  and  thrown  into  the  river.     These  thins-;  nrfc  beyond   CHAP 

*  viir 

contradiction  true, — they  were  extracted  from  the  letters  of  British  officers.*     v^~v~ 

In  the  state  of  North  Carolina,  the  first  aggression  of  the  loyalists  took 
place  in  February  1776.  This  was  under  the  command  of  one  M'Donald, 
created  a  general  by  the  royal  Governor  Martin  for  that  purpose.  But  M'Do- 
nald,  too  proud  of  his  new  dignity,  or  too  zealous  to  repress  his  ardour,  preci 
pitately  led  out  his  followers  from  Cross  Creek,  before  his  royal  coadjutors 
were  ready  for  action.  The  consequence  was,  that  they  were  soon  dispersed, 
and  for  a  long  time  afterwards,  were  too  seriously  impressed  with  the  tenors 
of  battle  to  do  more  than  keep  up  a  correspondence  with  the  enemy,  and 
make  large  promises  of  aid,  which  they  never  after  felt  themselves  safe  enough 
fully  to  realize.  They,  however,  and  their  connexions,  stretching  down  be 
tween  the  Pee  Dees,  constituted  the  perplexing  enemies  with  whom  Marion 
afterwards  was  destined  to  cope.  The  district  of  Marion  now  comprises  the 
country  in  which  the  contest  was  long  kept  up  between  these  parties. 

It  was  not  until  the  advance  of  the  enemy  to  Camdcn  and  the  Cheraws, 
that  the  loyalists  of  North  Carolina  resumed  their  arms.  Lord  Cornwallis 
had  instructed  them  not  to  rise  until  his  approach  into  North  Carolina  should 
afford  them  countenance  and  support.  But,  after  arrangements  were  made 
for  embodying,  it  was  not  so  safe  as  his  lordship  supposed,  for  his  majesty's* 
loyal  subjects  to  remain  in  a  state  of  separation.  They  knew  they  were 
watched,  and  military  execution  or  civil  prosecution  might  invade  their  fire 
sides,  before  they  could  convene  their  friends  for  mutual  protection.  Colonel 
Moore,  the  same  who  had  accompanid  Boyd,  again  made  his  appearance  at 
the  head  of  an  armed  band  from  Try  on  county.  But  before  he  had  advanced 
far,  Colonel  Rutherford  was  upon  him,  and  his  party  was  killed  or  dispersed. 
Colonel  Bryan,  from  the  lower  part  of  the  Yadkin,  was  more  fortunate.  He 
heard  of  the  approach  of  an  American  army  under  Do  Kalb,  on  a  route  which 
led  near  his  habitation,  and  rnllr-rtmg  about  800  followers,  he  hastened  to  join 
the  71st  British  regiment,  then  stationed  at  the  Cheraws. 

Thus  reinforced,  the  commander  of  the  regiment,  Colonel  M*  Arthur,  dis 
patching  his  sick  and  convalescents  with  a  part  of  his  baggage  down  the  Pee 
Dee  in  boats,  under  an  escort  of  militia,  struck  across  the  country  to  unite  with 
Lord  Rawdon  at  Camdcn.  This  left  an  opening  for  Marion  to  penetrate  into 
South  Carolina  on  the  enemy's  right,  of  which  he  soon  availed  himself;  whilst 
Sumpter  was  entering  upon  active  operations  on  his  left. 


M'Call. 


292  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CvmP'  ^  singular  coincidence  of  events  facilitated  the  career  of  these  two  active 
>>^^^/  commanders,  and  placed  them  most  unexpectedly  in  the  command  of  a  force 
which  sanctioned  their  advance  into  the  heart  of  the  country.  They  were  both 
feebly  attended,  when,  nearly  about  the  same  time,  two  instances  of  treachery 
(as  it  was  called  by  the  enemy)  placed  then}  in  the  command  of  troops  who 
could  never  afterwards  desert  them — because  of  that  treachery. 

Among  the  few  who  had  accompanied  Sumpter,  or  united  themselves  to 
him  when  he  fled  into  North  Carolina,  was  Colonel  Neale.  This  gentleman's 
command  lay  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Tiger  and  Enoree  rivers.  After  the 
British  commander  had  resolved  to  convert  the  militia  into  active  instruments 
in  the  war,  Neale's  command  was  given,  to  one  Floyd ;  and  Major  Lile,  who, 
bending  to  the  times,  had  taken  protection,  was  made  second  in  command. 
While  the  British  troops  hovered  near  them,  and  no  American  force  was  in 
View  to  protect  them,  the  men  had  patiently  submitted  to  be  marshalled  under 
his  majesty's  commission.  But  no  sooner  was  information  brought  them  that 
Sumpter  was  on  the  Catawba,  accompanied  by  their  beloved  colonel,  than  the 
whole  regiment,  with  Lile  at  their  head,  marched  off  and  joined  him.  Shortly 
after,  he  formed  a  junction  with  the  Waxsaw  whigs,  and  in  the  space  of  twenty- 
six  days,  drove  in  the  advanced  parties  of  the  enemy  on  the  Catawba,  and 
severely  handled  them  in  three  sharp  conflicts,  to  wit,  at  Williams',  at  Rocky 
Mount,  and  the  Hanging  Rock.  The  last  affair  occurred  eight  days  before 
the  defeat  of  Gates,  and  near  the  scene  of  that  action.  Immediately  after  it, 
Sumpter  had  recrossed  the  Catawba,  and  was  lying  on  the  west  side  of  the 
'river  at  the  time  of  Gates'  arrival  at  Rugely's  Mills.* 

The  same  tiling  happened  to  Marion.  With  his  little  band,  generally  well 
mounted  but  miserably  clad  and  equipped,  he  sought  out  General  Gates,  who, 
after  superceding  DC  Kail),  was  then  on  his  advance  to  Lyuch's  Creek,  and 
with  him  concerted  the  plan  of  penetrating  into  the  heart  of  the  state.  A 
messenger  from  the  whigs  of  William  sburg  had  invited  Marion  to  place  himself 
at  their  head,  and  he  was  cautiously  tracing  his  way  tlu'ough  a  country  much 
infested  with  loyalists,  when  M* Arthur's  boats  were  descending  the  Pee  Dee. 
The  advance  of  Marion  spread  an  alarm  among  the  loyalists,  and  the  intelli 
gence  was  promptly  communicated  to  the  escort  of  the  boats,  with  advice  to 
hasten  their  descent  to  a  place  of  security.  The  effect  was  exactly  the  reverse 
of  that  intended.  No  sooner  did  the  men  receive  this  intelligence,  than,  rising 
on  their  officers,  they  carried  them  off,  and  making  the  convalescents  of  the 


*  Tarletou's  Campaign,  p.  93. 


MAJO£  GENERAL  GREENE.  293 

British  army  prisoners,  they,  with  a  very  seasonable  supply  of  munitions  of  CHAP. 
war,  were  delivered  to  Marion.  N^-V^> 

When  these  acts  of  "  black  treachery"  (as  they  were  denominated)  became 
known  to  the  British  commanders,  their  indignation  knew  no  bounds ;  and  the 
beneficial  effects  of  these  events  on  the  American  cause,  is  best  expressed  in 
Colonel  Tarleton's  own  language :  "  It  ruined  all  confidence  between  the 
regulars  and  militia."  All  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  fairy  visions  of  converting  the 
militia  of  South  Carolina  into  a  British  army,  at  once  vanished.*  Yet  such  is 
the  unwillingness  of  men  to  acknowledge  themselves  wrong  in  their  specula 
tions,  that  his  commanders  would  not  for  some  time  relinquish  the  idle  project. 
Many  of  the  whigs  whose  high  standing,  or  rigid  notions  of  truth  would  not 
admit  of  temporizing,  had  to  sustain  imprisonment  and  chains  in  their  resist 
ance  to  this  imperious  measure.  These  persecutions  caused  many  to  flock  to 
the  standard  of  Marion,  and  soon  swelled  his  corps  to  a  size  which  enabled 
him  to  scour  the  country  from  the  North  Carolina  line  even  as  far  as  Monk's 
Corner,  and  greatly  interrupt  and  embarrass  the  communication  between 
Charleston  and  the  posts  at  Georgetown  and  Camden. 

As  soon  as  the  formidable  expedition  under  Sir  Henry  Clinton  had  sat 
down  before  Charleston,  congress  resolved  on  making  further  provision  for 
sustaining  the  war  in  the  southern  states.  But  so  feeble  were  their  means,  that 
after  leaving  the  necessary  force  for  holding  the  enemy  in  check  in  New  York, 
they  could  spare  but  fourteen  hundred  men  to  be  detached  to  the  south.  The 
command  of  this  detachment,  consisting  of  the  Maryland  and  Delaware  lines, 
was  confided  to  Major  General  Baron  De  Kalb,  and  was  intended  as  a  rein 
forcement  to  the  army  under  General  Lincoln.  But  Lincoln  having  been 
made  prisoner  before  their  arrival,  it  became  necessary  to  appoint  a  successor 
to  him  in  the  command  of  the  southern  department. 

The  victor  of  Burgoyne  at  that  time  maintained  an  almost  unrivalled  emi 
nence  in  popular  opinion;  and  such  were  the  relative  standings  of  himself  and 
Washington,  even  in  the  opinion  of  congress,  that  without  consulting  the  com 
mander  in  chief,  General  Gates  was  ordered,  by  a  vote  of  congress,  to  take 
command  in  the  southern  department.  It  has  been  seen  that  Washington 
would  have  conferred  it  on  another,  had  the  choice  rested  with  him. 

The  Baron  De  Kalb  had  pressed  his  march  to  the  south  by  the  direct  route 
from  Petersburg  in  Virginia,  for  CanulcMi  in  South  Carolina.  On  (he  6th  of 
July  he  reached  the  banks  of  the  Deep  River,  and  halted  at  Coxc's  Mills  to 


Turk-ton's  Campaign. 


294,  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

Co^cct  provisions,  and  decide  from  intelligence  on  his  future  course.  A  militia 
^  force  had  been  raised  in  the  state  of  North  Carolina  and  placed  under  com 
mand  of  General  Caswell.  This  was  now  in  advance  of  De  Kalb,  beyond. the 
Pee  Dee,  on  the  route  to  Camden  by  Mask's  Ferry.  On  the  same  route  Col. 
Porterfield,  with  his  small  detachment  of  Virginia  regulars,  was  also  posted. 
But  the  country  lying  between  was  alarmingly  sterile,  and  had  been  so  ex 
hausted  of  its  few  means  of  subsistence,  that  to  pass  it  without  forming  maga 
zines' in  advance,  or  transporting  the  m'eans  of  subsistence  with  him,  De  Kalb 
thought  impracticable;  and  such  was  die  abject  state  of  the  means  of  trans 
portation,  that  cither  to  collect  provisions  or  transport  them,  was  nearly  impos 
sible.  Thus  circumstanced,  he  was  meditating  on  the  project  of  deviating  to 
his  right,  so  as  to  avail  himself  of  the  fertile  and  friendly  counties  of  Mecklen 
burg  and  Rowan,  when  General  Gates  arrived  and  took  the  command. 

Orders  were  immediately  issued  for  the  troops  to  hold  themselves  in  readi 
ness  to  move  at  a  moment's  warning,  and  on  the  27th,  the  army  was  under 
march,  in  the  direct  route  across  die  barrens  to  Mask's  Ferry. 

General  Gates  had  not  at  this  time  one  day's  provision  to  serve  out  to  his 
army ;  and  a  measure  so  fraught  with  danger,  and  which,  in  its  consequences, 
had  so  nearly  brought  his  army  to  starving  or  disbanding,  must  ever  remain 
the  subject  of  severe  criticism  on  his  military  conduct.  Colonel  Williams, 
then  adjutant-general  under  De  Kalb,  has  written  his  apology,  which,  as  an 
authentic  and  interesting  fragment  of  original  history,  and  a  specimen  of  die 
talents  and  excellence  of  a  man  whom  his  country  has  reason  to  be  proud  of, 
will  be  found  at  large  in  the  appendix  to  this  work.*  The  reason  urged  for 
this  dangerous  adventure  was,  that  General  Caswell,  too  confident  in  his  num 
bers,  and  too  emulous  or  avaricious  of  fame,  and  unconscious  of  the  danger 
to  which  he  had  exposed  himself,  had  avanced  to  Lynch's  Creek,  and  was  in 
the  most  critical  situation  from  his  near  approach  to  the  enemy:  and  that  a  pre 
cipitate  march  was  necessary  to  support  or  extricate  him ;  as,  in  case  of  his 
dispersion,  all  hope  of  military  support  from  North  Carolina  must  be  aban 
doned.  It  would  also  seem,  that  Gates  had  some  how  been  led  to  anticipate 
supplies  which  never  reached  him,  as  he  assured  the  men  that  there  were  "wag 
gons  loaded  with  supplies  in  the  rear,  which  must  overtake  them  in  two  days. 
Yet  how  could  this  have  happened?  It  was  fortunate  for  him  that  lie  com 
manded  a  body  of  the  best  officers  and  best  troops  in  America.  AVell  disci 
plined  as  the  troops  were,  and  with  all  the  zeal  and  devotion  of  his  officers,  it 


*  Appendix  B. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  295 

was  scarcely  possible  to  preserve  them  from  mutiny,  such  was  the  absolute   CHAP. 
state  of  starvation  to  which  they  were  reduced  before  they  formed  a  junction  ^^~+*s 
with  General  C  as  well. 

The  most  reasonable  conjecture  as  to  the  motives  of  General  Gates  is,  that 
he  urged  his  march  across  the  desert,  with  the  double  intent  of  concealing  his 
own  approach  and  anticipating  that  of  reinforcements  to  the  enemy. 

Lord  Rawdon  being  then  in  command  in  Camden,  it  was  to  be  expected 
that  immediately  as  intelligence  reached  Lord  Cornwallis  of  the  advance  of 
an  army  to  attempt  that  post,  he  would  press  forward  reinforcements  to  Raw- 
don's  support.  But,  if  this  object  entered  into  General  Gates'  views,  it  is  not 
easy  to  assign  a  cause  why,  when  opposed  by  a  very  inferior  force  to  his  own 
on  the  banks  of  Lynch's  Creek,  he  should  have  suffered  himself  to  be  forced  to 
ascend  its  left  bank  and  to  pass  its  head,  instead  of  forcing  his  way  across  to 
Camden.  Yet  it  is  certain  that  he  was  detained  manoeuvring  on  the  east  bank 
of  Lynch's  Creek,  from  the  7th  of  August,  the  day  on  which  the  junction  was 
formed  with  Caswell,  to  the  13th,  when  the  army  encamped  at  Rugely's  Mills, 
called  Clermont.  The  imputed  object  of  General  Gates  in  ascending  the 
stream,  from  the  point  where  he  first  struck  it  to  that  at  which  Rugely's  Mills 
are  constructed,  was  to  effect  a  junction  with  Gen.  Stevens,  then  on  his  march 
with  a  brigade  of  Virginia  militia;  but  if  this  was  his  purpose,  it  would  have 
been  equally  well  answered  by  crossing  the  stream  below,  and  pressing  on  to 
the  great  road  to  Camden  by  which  Stevens  was  advancing,  so  as  effectually 
to  cover  the  latter  from  all  danger  of  attack.  But  the  motives  which  govern 
the  conduct  of  a  military  commander  can  seldom  be  determined  by  conjecture, 
however  justly  they  may  be  weighed  when  avowed  or  discovered. 

On  the  march  through  Virginia,  De  Kalb  had  been  joined  by  Colonel 
Carrington,  with  three  lean  companies  of  artillery,  manning  six  pieces.  On 
the  banks  of  the  Pee  Dee,  Colonel  Portcrfield  had  joined  the  army,  and  shortly 
after,  Colonel  Armand,  with  a  legionary  corps  of  about  sixty  horse  and  as  many 
foot.  The  day  after  the  army  had  encamped  at  Rugely's  Mills,  General  Ste 
vens  also  came  up  with  his  brigade  of  militia;  and  the  combined  returns  of 
these  several  commands  now  flattered  General  Gates  with  the  idea  of  being  at 
the  head  of  seven  thousand  men. 

The  next  day  presented  a  fair  opportunity  for  entering  upon  active  opera 
tions. 

Camden  Ferry,  on  the  line  of  communication  between  the  enemy's  posts, 
had  always  been  an  important  pass  to  the  garrisons  of  Camden,  Granby,  and 
Nixcty-Six.  The  recent  irruption  of  Marion  had  rendered  the  line  of  com 
munication  between  Camden,  Fort  Watson,  and  Charleston,  by  the  east  side 


29G  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  of  the  \V'aterrcc  and  Monk's  Corner,  so  insecure  as  to  compel  the  enemy  to 
O-x^^,  resort  to  a  more  westerly  route,  crossing  above  the  mouth  of  the  Watcrce  at 
M'Cord's  Ferry,  and  ascending  the  west  bank  of  the  Waterce  to  Camden 
Ferry.  Here  again  the  communication  was  watched  by  Sumpter,  whose 
recent  victories  over  the  advanced  posts  of  the  enemy,  enabled  him  to  occupy 
the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Rocky  Mount.  This  rendered  it  necessary  to 
defend  the  pass  at  Camden  Ferry,  and  a  Colonel  Carey,  with  a  body  of  loyal 
ists,  was  at  this  time  employed  in  erecting  a  fort  on  the  west  side  of  the  Wa- 
teree  for  that  purpose. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  August,  Colonel  Sumpter  received  intelli 
gence  of  the  advance  of  a  considerable  convoy  of  British  waggons  on  the  route 
from  M'Cord's-  to  Camden  Ferry,  and  dispatched  an  express  to  General  Gates 
to  solicit  of  him  a  reinforcement  of  regulars  to  support  his  militia  infantry,  in 
order  to  attempt  the  destruction  of  Carey  and  capture  of  the  convoy.  One 
hundred  picked  men  of  the  regulars  and  three  hundred  militia  of  North  Caro 
lina,  with  two  pieces  of  artillery,  under  Colonel  Woolford  of  the  Maryland 
line,  were  immediately  ordered  on  this  service;  and  General  Gates  put  the 
army  under  marching  orders  for  Camden,  with  the  double  design  of  support 
ing  Sumpter,  if  necessary,  and  availing  himself  of  the  opportunity  of  attacking 
Lord  Rawdon,  or  his  redoubts,  if  the  latter  should  march  out  in  force  to  repel 
the  attack  of  Sumpter. 

On  the  night  of  the  15th  at  10  o'clock,  the  American  army  moved  from 
Rugely's  Mills,  little  dreaming  of  the  terrible  fate  to  which  a  few  hours  were 
about  to  consign  them.  The  interval  between  their  march  and  their  destruc 
tion  scarcely  measured  a  span. 

It  is  truly  astonishing  that  General  Gates  should  have  been  profoundly  igno 
rant  of  the  arrival  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Cumdcn  the  evening  previous.  Yet 
so  it  was ;  and  at  the  head  of  2.000  finished  troops,  at  the  very  hour  that  Gates 
moved  from  Clermom,  Cornwallis  had  taken  *tp  the  line  of  march  to  attack 
him  in  his  encampment.  An  event  so  probable,  and  so  decisive  on  his  future 
operations,  surely  ought  to  have  commanded  General  Gates7  earliest  attention. 
The  obscure  route  by  which  Gates  approached  Camden,  has  been  mentioned 
as  the  cause  why  the  movements  of  Cornwallis  had  not  been  communicated  by 
Gates' friends;  but  surely,  if  the  necessary  measures  for  obtaining  intelligence 
had  been  adopted,  the  route  of  the  lattcr's  march  would  have  been  made  known 
to  those  who  were  to  communicate  with  him.  There  is  too  much  reason  to 
believe,  that  those  means  were  not  adopted. 

Nor  was  there  the  least  necessity  for  his  remaining  destitute  of  intelligence. 
.For  he  knew  that  Marion  had  penetrated  into  the  state  before  him:  and  through 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  297 

• 

the  medium  of  the  settlements  along  the  head  waters  of  the  Black  River,  only   CHAP. 
a  little  distance  to  his  left,  swarming  with  animated  whigs,  nothing  would  have  ^^-^ 
been  easier  than  to  have  dogged  every  step  of  the  British  commander.     And 
even  if  the  want  of  means  be  urged ;  up  to  the  time  of  his  junction  with  Cas- 
well,  it  may  be  admitted,  but  after  that  event  there  was  notliing  to  prevent 
his  dispatching  proper  persons  to  procure  the  necessary  intelligence  along  the 
line  of  communication  on  the  east  side  of  the  Wateree  River,  from  Lemid's 
Ferry,  where  Cornvvallis  crossed  the  Santee,  even  to  the  gates  of  Camdcn. 

The  unhappy  fate  which  awaited  him,  is  that  which  must  ever  attend  the 
commander  who  neglects  the  means  of  intelligence.  His  laurels  were  strewed 
in  the  dust,  his  venerable  head  bowed  down  with  humiliation,  an  army  de 
stroyed,  and  the  southern  states  brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin. 

Lord  Gornwallis,  on  the  contrary,  appears  to  have  been  accurately  informed 
of  every  particular  relating  to  his  adversary.  It  is  even  asserted  that  an  emis 
sary  sent  from  Camden  had  had  the  address  to  pass  himself  upon  Gates  as  a 
friend  and  win  his  confidence.  Thus  instructed,  the  British  commander 
resolved  to  make  a  night  attack  upon  his  unsuspecting  enemy,  then  posted  but 
ten  miles  in  advance  of  him. 

The  first  intelligence  communicated  to  either  army  of  the  near  approach  of 
the  other,  was  from  the  fire  of  the  British  advance-guard  upon  the  American. 
The  cavalry  of  Armand's  legion  being  struck  by  this  discharge,  wheeled  off  in 
confusion  and  carried  dismay  into  the  columns  advancing  in  their  rear.  But 
the  infantry  under  Porterfield,  who  were  advancing  in  files  on  the  right  of 
the  road,  coolly  returned  the  fire  and  checked  the  advance  of  the  enemy. 
This  was  about  half  after  two  in  the  morning,  and  about  mid  way  be 
tween  Clermont  and  Camden.  The  ground  was  equally  unknown  to  both 
commanders,  and  the  meeting  equally  unexpected.  As  if  by  mutual  con 
sent,  the  two  armies  drew  off  to  reconnoitre  and  prepare  for  ulterior  mea 
sures.  Orders  had  been  issued  by  the  American  general  for  forming  for  battle, 
and  the  line  was  soon  formed  under  the  activity  of  their  adjutant-general. 
The  first  Maryland  division,  including  the  Dcluwarcs,  under  De  Kalb,  was 
posted  on  the  right ;  the  Virginia  militia,  under  Stevens,  on  the  left ;  and  the 
North  Carolinians,  under  Caswell,  in  the  centre:  the  artillillory  in  battery  on 
the  road.  Both  wings  rested  on  morasses,  and  the  second  Maryland  brigade 
was  posted  a  few  hundred  yards  in  rear  of  the  first,  to  act  as  a  reserve. 

The  enemy  was  formed  in  one  line,  with  each  wing  covered  and  supported 
by  a  body  in  reserve. 

Thus  drawn  up,  the  break  of  day  discovered  the  two  armies  to  each  other, 
and  the  action  was  brought  on  by  the  American  left  wing's  advancing  upon 

38 


298  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  the  British  right,  which  had  the  appearance  of  still  being  unsettled  in  its  posi- 
ti 

The  reception  which  the  Virginians  met  with  soon  proved  that  their  adver 
sary  was  prepared  for  them  ;  and  the  proof  of  that  fact  was  all  they  stood  to 
ascertain.  They  fled  in  the  most  abject  confusion,  "  few  discharged  their 
guns,  and  fewer  still  carried  them  off  the  field." 

The  North  Carolina  militia,  with  the  exception  of  one  corps  under  a  Major 
Dixon,  which  was  on  the  extreme  right  of  their  brigade  under  protection  of 
the  Marylanders,  followed  the  cowardly  example  of  the  left,  and  broke  away 
notwithstanding  every  effort  to  detain  them.  Armand's  cavalry  also  fled,  a 
bride  abatlue,  and  a  charge  of  the  British  cavalry  soon  put  an  end  to  every 
hope  of  rallying  the  fugitives.  They  scattered  through  the  woods,  seeking 
the  swamps  or  their  homes,  and  spreading  a  paralysing  alarm  throughout  the 
country.  As  no  returns  could  ever  be  obtained  of  the  North  Carolinians,  it  is 
not  known  how  many  suffered ;  but  as  some  of  them  behaved  well,  it  followed 
that  they  sustained  sorae  loss ;  but  of  the  Virginians  it  is  confidently  asserted, 
that  their  retunis  exhibited  "  three  wounded." 

The  devoted  Marylanders  and  Delawares  were  now  left  to  struggle  against 
double  their  numbers.  The  state  of  affairs  would  have  dictated  a  retreat,  but 
8t  post  had  been  assigned  them  and  they  nobly  maintained  it,  waiting  for  orders 
from  the  commander  in  chief.  But  he,  it  seems,  had  been  borne  away  by  the 
torrent  of  militia,  and  could  not  find  an  aid  to  convey  his  orders.  Why  else 
was  there  no  attention  paid  to  die  safety  of  these  brave  men  ? 

The  artillery  was  now  lost,  and  Armand's  legion  fled  ;  the  regular  infantry 
'numbered  but  nine  hundred  men,  and  these  had  now  to  bear  the  undivided 
pressure  of  two  thousand  of  the  best  troops  in  the  British  service.  But  they 
not  only  resisted,  but  at  some  points  earned  the  bayonet  into  the  ranks  of  die 
enemy  and  made  many  prisoners.  It  was  impossible  that  this  could  last.  De 
Kalb  had  fallen  under  eleven  wounds,  the  British  cavalry  had  returned  from 
dispersing  the  militia,  the  ground  was  unfavourable  to  manoeuvring  in  a  square 
or  covering  their  flanks,  and  the  only  chance  that  remained  to  avoid  a  surrender 
on  the  field,  was  to  break  away  for  the  morass  in  their  rear,  into  which  they 
could  not  be  pursued  by  the  cavalry.  This  was  done ;  and  by  this  alone  did 
any  part  of  this  devoted  corps  escape  from  the  swords  of  the  dragoons,  in  which 
die  enemy  was  very  strong.  In  this  effort  a  large  proportion  of  the  officers 
escaped;  but  Major  Anderson  was  the  only  one  who  succeeded  in  keeping  toge- 
.  ther  any  body  of  men.  Colonel  Howard  and  some  others  collected  some  men 
in  their  train,  and  the  whole  proceeded  on  in  a  state  of  utter  dissolution  until 
they  reached  Charlotte.  Scarcely  any  of  the  waggons  escaped ;  for  the  horses 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  299 

were  very  generally  brought  into  requisition  to  carry  off  the  wounded  officer*.   CHAP. 
The  artillery,  baggage,  every  thing  became  prize  to  the  victor,  and  to  the  utter  v^-v-^.- 
astonishment  but  infinite  relief  of  the  scattered  Americans,  Lord  Cormvallis, 
satisfied  with  his  triumph,  returned  to  celebrate  it  in  Camden — by  offering  the 
lives  of  some  of  his  prisoners  to  the  manes  of  his  soldiers,  or  the  demon  of 
revenge. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  hurry  of  flight  that  a  courier  overtook  General 
Gates  with  the  consoling  intelligence,  that  Sumpter  had  completely  succeeded 
in  his  enterprize.  But  Gates  had  only  to  communicate  in  reply  intelligence  of 
his  own  irretrievable  misfortune,  and  the  necessity  of  Sumpter's  urging  a 
retreat  to  the  mountains  for  safety. 

The  moment  the  detachment  under  Woolford  joined  Sumpter,  he  put 
his  command  under  march  for  Camden  Ferry.  Near  the  break  of  day  on  the 
morning  of  the  16th,  he  found  himself  advanced  undiscovered  to  within  a  few' 
miles  of  Carey's  fort.  A  strong  detachment  of  militia  under  command  of 
Colonel  Thomas  Taylor,  was  then  pushed  forward  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  fort 
and  cut  off  the  retreat  of  Carey's  detachment,  or  prevent  it  from  forming  a 
junction  with  the  convoying  party.  Taylor  approached  with  such  caution 
and  silence  as  to  find  Carey's  party  wholly  unconscious  of  the  danger  that 
awaited  them.  The  opportunity  was  favourable,  and  he  improved  it  by  so 
sudden  and  impetuous  an  attack,  that  the  whole  party  surrendered  without 
any  serious  opposition.  Learning  from  them  that  the  convoy  was  at  no  great 
distance  in  the  rear,  and  equally  unapprehensive  of  danger,  Taylor  immedi 
ately  advanced  upon  it,  and  the  similitude  of  his  appearance  with  the  home 
spun  dresses  of  the  loyalists,  excited  no  apprehension  in  the  convoying  party 
until  they  found  themselves  surrounded  and  secured. 

A  retreat  up  the  river  was  immediately  commenced,  and  the  party  under 
Sumpter  far  advanced  before  either  he,  had  notice  of  the  advance  of  Corn- 
\vallis  upon  Gates,  or  Cornwallis,  intelligence  of  the  disaster  sustained  by  his 
convoy.  But  it  happened  that  Sumpter  had  been  approaching  danger  instead 
of  avoiding  it,  for  he  was  now  nearly  opposite  the  ground  on  which  the  battle 
of  the  morning  had  been  fought.  The  river  lay  between  him  and  the  enemy, 
but  there  were  several  points  at  which  it  could  be  passed. 

As  soon  as  Lord  Cornwallis  received  intelligence  of  the  capture  of  his  con 
voy  and  the  route  by  which  Sumpter  was  retreating,  he  detached  Colonel 
Tarleton  with  his  legion  and  a  corps  of  mounted  infantry,  to  pursue  the  Ame 
rican  party  by  the  route  over  Rocky  jMount  Ford. 

Colonel  Sumpter  had  acquired  a  valuable  booty — forty  waggons  laden  with 
arms,  spirits,  clothing,. and  every  thing  that  the  American  army  stood  mo<t  hi 


300  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CvmP'  fl°e^  °**  ^Ut  ^e  WaS  a*so  encumkered  with  near  three  hundred  prisoners,  and 
^v-^  the  whole,  greatly  operated  to  impede  his  retreat.  Nevertheless  by  urging  hi* 
march  by  day  and  by  night,  he  passed  Fishing  Creek  about  noon  of  the  18th,. 
and  halted  to  afford  a  moment  of  rest  and  refreshment  to  his  harassed  troops. 
That  moment  proved  fatal  to  the  most  flattering  hopes  that  ever  dawned  on  the 
enterprizc  of  a  commander.  Colonel  Tarleton  with  his  cavalry  burst  upon 
them  when  there  was  not  a  man  standing  to  his  arms,  and  threw  themselves 
between  the  men  and  the  parade  where  their  muskets  were  stacked. 

'  By  what  means  Tarleton  succeeded  in  effecting  this  unequivocal  surprise 
we  are  uninformed;  the  force  under  Sumpter  was  sufficient  to  have  swept  his- 
cavalry  from  the  face  of  the  earth  had  it  been  prepared  to  receive  them.  It 
cannot  be  supposed  that  the  army  had  been  halted  without  posting  proper 
videttes  and  a  camp-guard ;  and  Tarleton's  reaching  the  parade  ground  before 
a  drum  beat  to  arms,  must  ever  remain  a  mysterious  occurrence  until  some 
explanation  of  the  causes  shall  be  furnished  to  the  world.  The  only  one  ever 
furnished  is,  that  the  videttes  were  sleeping  on  their  posts,  and  the  commander 
supposed  himself  beyond  the  reach  of  danger.  Never  is  a  military  com 
mander  more  certainly  in  danger,  than  when  lulled  by  the  belief  that  he  has 
nothing  to  fear. 

By  this  unhappy  occurrence  many  brave  men  lost  their  lives.     Some  few  of 
the  regulars  took  post  behind  the  waggons  in  hopes  of  rallying  the  militia,  but 
their  fire  only  sharpened  the  swords  of  the  dragoons,  by  the  death  of  a  few  of 
their  number.     No  other  opposition  was  made ;  the  rout  was  total ;  Colonel 
Sumpter  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape,  but  very  few  of  the  officers  or  men 
got  off.     The  aggregate  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  was  very  little 
short  of  that  sustained  by  General  Gates,  and  served  to  swell  the  returns  of  the 
victors  to  the  still  exaggerated  account  of  one  thousand  prisoners,  and  eight  or 
nine  hundred  killed  and  wounded — a  loss  which  has  been  erroneously  attri 
buted  to  the  defeat  of  Gates  alone. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Colonel  Tarleton  set  the  example  which  was 
but  too  closely  imitated  about  six  weeks  afterwards  upon  the  followers  of 
Colonel  Ferguson.  There  are  still  living  the  most  respectable  witnesses  who 
saw  him  ride  up  in  person,  (for  he  was  in  the  rear  of  the  party  that  charged,) 
and,  under  the  information  derived  from  the  loyalists,  late  prisoners  to  Sump 
ter,  select  and  pinion  with  cords  a  number  of  the  American  prisoners,  and  in 
this  situation  inarch  them  off  to  Camden.  These  were  the  men  who  were,  a 
few  davs  afterwards,  consigned  to  the  gallows  by  "  the  amiable  Cornwallis,"* 

*  An  epithet  given  the  British  commander  by  Colonel  Lee  hi  his  Memoirs. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  SOI 

without  even  a  form  of  trial.     Were  they  British  subjects?  were  they  Ameri-  CHAP. 
cans  ?  were  they  rebels  ?  were  they  even  deserters  ?  were  they  any  thing  but  ^^^^ 
spies?    \Vhence  could  a  British  commander  derive  this  savage  right?     It  was 
an  expression  of  contempt  for  the  struggle  in  which  they  were  engaged,  and 
the  whigs,  when  victorious  at  King's  Mount,  were  resolved  not  to  be  despised  - 
with  impunity. 

Discordant,  as  usual,  are  the  accounts  transmitted,  as  well  of  the  numbers 
engaged,  as  of  the  losses  sustained  at  the  defeat  of  General  Gates.  The  Bri 
tish  contended  that  they  had  fought  and  dispersed  treble  then*  own  numbers ; 
and  could  General  Gates  have  brought  into  action  the  whole  force  supposed  to 
have  been  collected  at  Clermont,  they  would  have  exceeded  that  number.  But 
his  march  through  the  desert  had  made  sad  havoc  in  liis  line  of  regulars ;  and 
as  to  the  militia,  die  fatigues  of  duty,  change  of  habits,  and  a  long  march, 
had  reduced  them  to  almost  one  third  the  number  that  had  been  mustered.  It 
is  positively  known  that  the  American  returns  of  the  morning  of  the  15th 
August  gave  exactly  three  thousand  and  fifty-two  fit  for  duty.  Of  these,  nine 
hundred  werd  of  the  line,  two  hundred  artillerists  with  four  pieces,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  Armand's  legion — about  sixty  of  whom  were  mounted, 
but  proved  themselves  very  indifferent  cavalry.  The  rest  of  the  troops,  about 
seventeen  hundred,  were  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  militia,  nearly  in  equal 
numbers. 

The  British  army  are  acknowledged  to  have  consisted  of  about  seventeen 
hundred  regulars  and  three  hundred  loyalists.  On  the  night  of  the  engage 
ment,  some  prisoners  taken  in  the  rencounter  between  the  advanced  guards, 
reported  it  three  thousand  strong,  and  with  that  number  General  Gates  sup 
posed  himself  about  to  engage.  With  what  hope  of  success  he  could  venture, 
with  a  force  like  his,  to  cope  with  three  thousand  British  veterans  in  an  open 
champaign  country,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive.  But  it  scarcely  seems  to  be 
the  question  whether  he  ought  to  have  engaged  them.  The  doubt  is,  whether 
it  was  possible  under  actual  circumstances,  to  avoid  a  general  action.  De 
Kalb  certainly  thought  that  the  army  ought  to  retreat,  and  considering  that  it 
wanted  yet  four  hours  of  day,  there  was  probably  much  more  to  have  been 
hoped  for,  from  the  attempt  to  retreat,  than  from  the  possibility  that  a  body  of 
raw  militia,  agitated  by  all  the  anticipations  of  four  hours  spent  in  the  dark 
in  the  face  of  a  disciplined  enemy,  would  stand  its  ground  against  their  bayo 
nets.  Nor  is  this  all ;  it  will  be  seen  from  Colonel  Williams'  narrative,  that 
an  injudicious  measure  in  the  distribution  of  provisions,  had  actually  put  them 
in  a  state  of  debility  little  adapted  to  the  tug  of  battle. 


302  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  The  loss  admitted  by  the  British  commander,  is  three  hundred  killed  and 
,  wounded.  No  other  evidence  exists  on  that  point.  As  to  the  American  loss, 
as  the  militia  scattered  to  all  the  winds  of  heaven,  there  is  no  certainty  of  the 
number  killed  of  them.  With  regard  to  the  North  Carolinians,  as  the  300 
men  who  accompanied  Sumpter  were  made  prisoners,  we  find  350  North 
Carolina  militia  made  prisoners  by  the  enemy.  One  of  their  best  officers,  Gen. 
Rutherford,  was  wounded  and  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands.  Their  General 
Gregory  also  was  severely  wounded.  Of  the  regulars,  not  above  six  hundred 
escaped  ;  so  that  the  loss  here,  exclusive  of  those  who  had  shared  the  fate  of 
Sumpter's  detachment,  was  not  less  than  six  hundred,*  a  very  large  proportion 
of  whom  were  killed  and  wounded.  Many  valuable  officers  shared  the  same 
late,  and  none  of  them  more  deservedly  lamented  than  Colonel  Porterfield  ; 
who  was  severely  wounded  and  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands.  When  able  to 
travel  he  was  paroled,  but  his  wound  was  incurable,  and  he  finally  expired 
under  it. 

The  tomb  of  De  Kalb,  erected  by  congress,  still  occupies  a  conspicuous 
place  in  the  cemetery  of  Camden,  and  history  has  reared  a  more  imperishable 
monument  to  the  gallant  Du  Buissy,  who  with  his  own  body  shielded  that  of 
his  friend  and  commander  from  the  British  bayonets, — which  had  already 
drank  his  blood  from  eleven  orifices. 

The  command  of  Sumpter  was  irrevocably  dispersed,  but  its  commander, 
supported  still  by  the  hope  of  retrieving  the  fortunes  of  his  country,  retired  to 
North  Carolina,  to  endeavour  once  more  to  collect  his  followers. 

General  Gates,  after  ineffectual  attempts  to  rally  his  men,  first  at  Clr-rmont, 
then  at  Charlotte,  then  at  Salisbury,  finally  retired  to  Hillsborough,  to  solicit 
the  support  of  the  state  legislature  then  in  session.  Gunby,  Williams,  Howard, 
Anderson,  and  as  many  of  the  regular  officers  as  had  escaped,  collected  the 
"  tristes  rdiquict?'*  of  their  late  gallant  regiments  at  Charlotte,  and  under  the 
conduct  of  General  Smallwood,  retreated  to  Ilillshorough.  Here,  upon  bring 
ing  together  the  little  remnant  of  the  southern  army,  they  found  the  whole  of 
all  descriptions  in  the  Maryland  line,  including  those  who  had  been  left  in  the 
rear  on  the  day  of  the  action,  to  amount  to  six  hundred  and  ninety-seven  rank 
and  file,  and  eighty  non-commissioned  officers  and  musicians;  total,  seven 


*  Colonel  Williams  says  the  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  after  the  two  a  flairs  of  the  l6th  and 
18th,  were,  3  lieutenant  colonels,  2  majors,  15  captains,  13  subalterns,  2  staff  officers,  52  non-com- 
roissioned  officers,  7-4  musicians,  711  rank  and  file. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  303 

hundred  and  seventy-seven :  Dclawares,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five :  Virgi-  CHAP. 

nians,  fifty.  v*r>vx^ 

After  the  dispersion  of  Colonel  Sumpter's  command,  there  did  not  remain 
in  South  Carolina  a  man  in  arms  in  the  American  cause,  except  the  few  who 
were  embodied  under  Marion.  This  officer  still  maintained  his  ground  below 
the  Santee  River,  and  managed,  among  the  swamps  and  defiles  of  that  region, 
to  elude  all  the  activity  of  his  enemies.  Nay,  the  communication  with  Charles 
ton  by  the  way  of  Nelson's  Ferry,  was  almost  broken  up  by  his  persevering 
watchfulness,  and  even  the  defeat  of  Gates  did  not  warn  him  to  retire,  as  long 
as  the  British  cavalry  remained  with  Cornwallis. 

A  masterly  enterprize,  marked  with  the  boldness  and  intelligence  that  dis 
tinguished  all  his  movements,  and  crowTied  with  signal  success,  soon  made  it 
necessary  for  Cornwallis  to  dislodge  him.  Intelligence  was  communicated  to 
Marion  that  a  detachment  of  the  prisoners  taken  from  Gates,  about  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  in  number,  were  on  their  march  for  Charleston,  under  an  escort 
of  nearly  the  same  number.  Placing  his  mounted  militia  in  ambush  in  one 
of  the  swamps  that  skirt  the  road  from  Nelson's  Ferry  to  Monk's  Corner, 
he  darted  upon  the  escort  at  a  moment  when  least  expected,  and  made  every 
man  of  them  prisoner.  Then  placing  their  arms  in  the  hands  of  their  prison 
ers,  paroling  the  officers  and  taking  their  receipt  for  the  British  prisoners,  to  be 
exchanged,  he  hurried  across  the  Santee  and  up  the  west  bank  of  the  Pec  Dee, 
until  his  prisoners  were  safely  disposed  of  within  the  limits  of  North  Carolina. 
He  was  far  beyond  the  reach  of  danger  before  the  parties  detached  to  drive 
him  from  his  covert  had  reached  the  scene  of  his  recent  enterprizes. 

Thus  was  the  state  of  South  Carolina  wholly  abandoned  to  the  enemy. 

From  the  fatal  16th  of  August  to  the  7th  of  September,  Lord  Cornwallis 
was  occupied  at  Camden  in  measures  to  secure  the  province  against  that  spirit 
of  revolt,  which  had  so  recently  manifested  itself  on  the  approach  of  Gates. 
During  this  interval  it  was,  that  the  most  influential  of  the  whigs  in  Charleston, 
in  contempt  of  the  faith  of  treaty,  were  torn  from  their  families,  hurried  into 
transports,  and  conveyed  to  the  fortress  of  St.  Augustine.  And  every  measure 
was  adopted  in  council  and  enforced  by  example,  which  could  give  the  citi 
zens  to  understand  that  their  lives  and  properties  were  held  in  subjection  to  a 
military  despotism.  At  the  same  time,  measures  were  adopted  to  embody  and 
discipline  the  zealous  loyalists;  and  for  this  purpose,  Colonel  Ferguson,  an 
active  and  intelligent  partisan,  and  possessing  peculiar  qualifications  for  attach 
ing  to  him  the  marksmen  of  Ninety-Six,  was  dispatched  into  that  district. 
To  a  corps  of  one  hundred  picked  regulars,  he  soon  succeeded  in  attaching 
twelve  or  thirteen  hundred  hardy  natives;  his  camp  became  the  rendezvous  of 


304  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE, 

CTmP<   the  desperate,  the  idle,  and  the  vindictive,  as  well  as  of  the  youth  of  the  loyalists 
^-v^>  whose  zeal  or  ambition  prompted  them  to  military  sen  ice. 

There  was  a  part  of  the  state  which  had  not  yet  been  trodden  by  a  hostile 
foot,  and  the  projected  march  through  this  unexplored  and  undevastated  region 
drew  many  to  his  standard.  This  was  the  country  which  stretches  along  the 
foot  of  the  mountains  towards  the  borders  of  North  Carolina.  His  progress 
is  said  to  have  been  marked  with  blood  and  lighted  up  with  conflagrations. 

On  the  7th  September  Lord  Cornwallis,  at  the  head  of  all  his  disposable 
force,  lightly  equipped,  as  the  English  writers  say,  and  not  prepared  for  per 
manent  conquest,  commenced  his  march  for  Charlotte;  while  Ferguson,  by  an 
oblique  route,  moved  from  Ninety-Six  towards  the  same  point.  There  was, 
seemingly  nothing  to  oppose,  nothing  to  molest  the  progress  of  either.  Yet  one 
met  with  death  and  ruin,  and  the  other  found  an  enemy  swarming  round  him, 
who  could  neither  be  driven  away,  nor  evaded. 

It  was  at  the  time  of  Clarke's  retreat  from  Augusta  that  Ferguson  was 
crossing  the  country  to  form  a  junction  with  Cornwallis.  The  route  that  the 
American  colonel  was  pursuing  in  his  retreat,  appeared  to  indicate  an  intention 
to  pass  in  front  of  the  British  army,  and  form  a  junction  with  Gates,  or  with 
the  North  Carolina  militia,  which  had  been  recently  called  into  service.  Fer 
guson,  conceiving  the  idea  of  intercepting  him  in  his  course,  made  a  movement 
to  the  left,  which  seemed  to  threaten  the  habitations  of  the  hardy  race  that 
occupy  the  mountains.  It  was  approaching  the  lair  of  the  lion ;  for  half  the 
families  of  the  persecuted  whigs  had  been  deposited  in  this  asylum. 

The  fate  which  Ferguson  met  with  has  been  generally  attributed  to  a  casual 
meeting  of  bodies  of  militia,  who  acted  without  any  preconcert.  To  the 
British  commander,  the  force  that  destroyed  him  appeared  to  have  sprung 
up  like  the  soldiers  of  Deucalion.  But  that  country  was  never  without  the 
force  that  Ferguson  had  to  encounter.  The  same  fate  would  have  awaited 
any  other  commander  at  any  oilier  time,  who  had  approached  that  sanctuary 
in  no  greater,  force. 

From  the  Kcnhawa  to  the  Ogechcc,  there  existed  a  connexion  between  the 
frontier  settlements  stretching  along  the  mountains.  Their  contiguity  to  the 
powerful  Indian  nations,  the  Chickesaws,  Chcrokces,  and  Creeks,  cemented 
their  union,  by  the  sympathies  that  sprung  from  common  danger  and  mutual 
protection.  Their  frequent  exposure  to  the  incursions  of  these  hostile  nations, 
kept  them  always  on  the  alert,  and  always  ready  to  fly  to  the  support  of  each 
other.  The  same  cause  had  rendered  them  deadly  hostile  to  the  British  inte 
rest,  for  die  Indians  had  repeatedly  stained  their  hearths  with  blood,  under  the 
influence  of  British  emissaries.  To  the  loyalists  they  were  still  more  hostile. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  S06 

for  man?  of  the  latter  had  taken  dp  their  abode  amojig  the  Indians  the  better  CHAP. 
to  facilitate  their  plundering  excursions;  and  in  the  incursions  of  the  Indians  .^^^ 
which  had  recently  harassed  this  whole  frontier,  white  men  had  always  min 
gled  with  the,savages  hi  Indian  disguises.  At  this  very  time,  the  whole  fron 
tier  was  in  alarm  from  rumours  of  hostile  preparation  among  the  Indian  towns. 
The  forward  movements  of  the  British  army  had  always  been  accompanied  by 
a  simultaneous  irruption  of  their  barbarian  ally.  Environed  by  their  mountains, 
the  inhabitants  had  hitherto  felt  secure  from  British  invasion,  and  the  same, 
consideration  had  collected  about  them  the  families  and  property  of  many  of 
the  whigs  from  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  From  the  last- 
mentioned  state  a  caravan  of  hapless  exiles  had  recently  arrived  among  them. 
The  comrades  of  Clarke  had  all  been  plundered,  their  houses  destroyed,  and 
their  families  turned  destitute  into  the  woods.  This  was  among  the  measures 
which  claimed  sanction  under  the  instructions  and  proclamations  of  the 
"  amiable  Cornwallis."  This  defenceless  group  had  now  been  expedited  to 
the  mountains,  where  they  received  such  marks  of  kindness  and  hospitality  as 
can  never  be  forgotten. 

Maddened  by  the  view  of  their  sufferings  and  the  anticipation  of  the  evils 
which  invasion  must  bring  along  with  it,  the  militia  of  this  region  was  pre 
cisely  in  that  state  hi  which  a  militia  becomes  terrible.  Their  families  were 
behind  them,  the  enemy  before  diem,  and  there  was  no  time  for  hesitation. 
Simultaneously  all  flew  to  arms,  and  the  few  passes  of  the  mountains  through 
which  they  must  penetrate,  or  at  which  they  must  make  a  stand,  necessarily 
drew  them  to  a  common  point.  The  same  cause  also  brought  together  a 
number  of  the  whigs  from  the  planes  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  fleeing 
from  the  approach  of  Ferguson. 

Clarke's  march  along  the  foot  of  the  mountains  was  intended  to  cover  the 
retreat  of  the  Georgia  families  from  the  enemy  embodied  on  his  right,  and 
Cleveland,  William?,  Lacy,  Brcnnan,  and  many  others  of  the  South  Caro 
lina  whigs  had  collected  their  followers  on  the  approach  of  Ferguson,  and 
taken  the  route  for  the  passes  of  the  mountains  to  avail  themselves  of  the  pro 
tection  of  the  defiles,  and  of  their  friends  who  lay  beyond  them.  Thus  by  a 
combination  of  causes  all  leading  to  the  same  end,  dill  near  six  thousand  of 
the  choicest  yeomanry  of  the  country  find  themselves  collected  in  front  of 
Colonel  Ferguson,  at  a  place  called  Gilbcrttown. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  astonishment  of  the  British  colonel  at  finding  him 
self  in  the  presence  of  this  formidable  force.  He  dispatched  couriers  to  Lord 
Cornwallis  for  relief,  but  the  country  through  which  they  had  to  pass  was  too 
hostile  to  admit  of  their  reaching  him.  Nor  would  the  distance,  though  nor 

39 


S06  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

C"AP-  great,  have  admitted  of  support  against  an  enemy  capable  of  moving  with 
^>*^<s  such  rapidity.  For  they  were  all  well-mounted,  and  not  an  article  of  bag 
gage  impeded  their  march.  His  blanket,  his  rifle,  and  his  ammunition,  was 
all  which  any  one  carried  with  him  into  the  field.  In  a  mild  and  happy  cli 
mate,  they  sought  no  other  covering  but  the  heavens;  and  the  morsel  fur 
nished  from  a  scrip,  supplied  the  food  for  several  days  of  fatigue. 

A  retrograde  movement  made  by  Colonel  Ferguson  betrayed  his  apprehen 
sions,  and  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  an  effort  to  overtake  him.     Nine  hun 
dred  and  ten  picked  men*  were  immediately  mounted  on  the  fleetest  horses;" 
the  command  of  them  given  to  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell,  and  under  him,  to 
Cleveland,  Seviere,  Shelby,  and  Williams. 

On  the  7th  October,  Campbell  overtook  Ferguson,  who  had  taken  post  on 
King's  Mountain,  near  the  borders  of  North  Carolina,  where  the  great  natural 
advantages  of  the  ground  might  well  have  protected  him  from  a  far  more 
numerous  enemy.  But  Campbell  did  not  hesitate  ^to  attack  him,  and  in  a 
manner  altogether  new  and  characteristic. 

It  was  precisely  the  Parthian  contest,  which  proved  so  fatal  to  the  disciplined 
legions  of  the  Romans. 

Campbell  divided  his  force  into  three  equal  parts ;  the  .one  he  led  in  person, 
the  others  were  commanded  by  Shelby  and  Cleveland.  There  were  three 
different  points  at  which  the  mountain  might  be  ascended,  and  these  were 
severally  assigned  to  the  respective  commanders.  It  seems,  that  Ferguson  had 
supposed  himself  assailable  only  by  one  route;  for  on  one  only  there  was 
posted  a  picket  guard.  This  was  the  pass  by  which  Cleveland  ascended,  and 
he  was  in  consequence  the  first  engaged.  His  simple,  manly,  and  forcible 
harangue  as  given  by  Ramsay,  is  not  imaginary,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  most  of  those  transmitted  to  posterity  as  the  speeches  of  military7  com 
manders,  are.  From  the  conduct  of  Colonel  Ferguson,  it  would  seem,  that  he 
was  not  aware  of  his  enemy's  order  of  battle  until  it  was  too  late  to  counteract 
it.  He  trusted  to  the  bayonet  against  an  enemy  as  nimble  as  the  antelope*, 
and  who,  being  altogether  destitute  of  this  weapon,  had  calculated  on  drawing 
his  enemy  from  the  heights  he  occupied,  by  receding  before  it,  while  the  other 
parties  advanced  to  possess  themselves  of  the  ground  thus  abandoned.  There 
was  nothing  gained  by  repulsing  detachment  after  detachment,  at  the  point  of 
the  bavonet ;  on  the  contrary,  it  impeded  the  use  of  the  only  instrument  of 


*  Mr.  Marshall  says  sixteen  hundred.     We  know  not  from  what  authority  he  takes  this  number. 
But  the  American  account  was  certainly  as  here  stated. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  007 

death  that  could  reach  them.     Ferguson  has  been  much  eulogised  for  his  cou-^  CIIAP. 
duct;  but  it  will  rest  with  military  men  to  determine  whether  the  measure  he,^^^^ 
persisted  in,  of  keeping  his  men  together  and  alternately  pressing  upon  detach 
ment  after  detachment,  did  not  insure  to  him  the  fate  he  met  with.     It  is  most 
probable,  that  he  was  unaware  of  the  smallness  of  the  number  he  was  engaged 
with,  but  supposed  the  whole  body  of  six  thousand  upon  him.     But  it  is  not 
proble  that  he  could,  by  any  measures  that  his  situation  admitted  of,  have 
escaped;  for  the  party  surrounding  him  could  certainly  have  detained  him, 
until  the  main  body  came  up. 

After  a  severe  conflict  of  an  hour,  in  which  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  his 
men  were  already  killed,  and  three  or  four  hundred  wounded,  Ferguson  him 
self  fell,  and  his  whole  command  surrendered.  Eleven  hundred  men,  includ 
ing  the  wounded,  with  fifteen  hundred  stand  of  arms,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
victors.  About  two  hundred,  chiefly  those  whose  crimes  rendered  it  dangerous 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  their  countrymen,  escaped  during  the  action,  through 
the  intervals  between  the  American  parties. 

The  loss  of  the  whigs  was  inconsiderable  as  to  numbers,  but  rendered  dis- 
jtressing  to  the  Carolinians  by  the  fall  of  Colonel  Williams.  When  this  state 
shall  perpetuate  her  own  gratitude  and  the  memory  of  the  worthies  of  the 
revolution,  by  dedicating  a  column  to  the  preservation  of  their  names,  let  not 
that  of  Williams  be  forgotten.  But  the  time  is  not  yet  arrived  when  impar 
tial  history  can  graduate  the  rank  of  merit  by  an  unbiassed  judgment. 

During  the  time  of  die  events  that  terminated  in  the  fall  of  Ferguson,  Lord 
Cornwallis  was  moving  on,  in  all  the  tranquillity  of  conscious  security,  to 
wards  Charlotte.  It  is  not  easy  at  this  day  to  decide  upon  his  views ;  when 
he  afterwards  found  it  necessary  to  retreat  to  Winsborough,  he  wrote,  that  his 
sole  object  was  "  to  obtain  recruits."  But  the  known  unwillingness,  and  even 
impolicy  in  a  commander  to  acknowledge  that  he  has  been  baffled  in  his 
manoeuvres,  will  ever  cause  the  human  mind  to  extend  its  scrutiny  beyond  his 
avowed  motives,  in  determining  on  his  views  and  actions.  It  is  not  very  likely 
that  the  British  commander  would  have  left  behind  him  the  many  friendly 
settlements,  in  which  the  recruiting  service  was  now  going  on  with  but  top 
much  success,  to  seek  recruits  among  the  last  men  in  America  to  furnish  them, 
— the  determined  whigs  of  the  Waxsaws  and  Mecklenburg.  A  more  simple 
solution  of  his  motives  is  to  be  gathered  from  a  few  facts  unquestionably  esta 
blished.  Emissaries*  had  been  despatched  from  Camden  to  the  loyalists. 


*  Steidman.    Marshall. 


303  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CVHiP'**n  tllC  V^°'in'lty  ojf"  tne  DceP  an<*  Haw  rivers,  with  instructions  to  hold  them- 
v-*-v^ selves  in  readiness  to  act  in  concert  with  the  British  army;  and  his  lordship 
had  ventured  to  boast  that  two  provinces  were  subdued,  and  the  third  was  but 
the  stepping-block  to  the  conquest  of  Virginia.  It  was  then  with  a  view  to 
realise  this  boast,  that  the  expedition  had  been  undertaken.  There  was  no 
army  to  oppose  him  from  Georgia  to  the  Delaware;  and  after  a  junction  widi 
Ferguson  in  Charlotte,  at  the  head  of  three  or  four  thousand  men,  he  may 
have  marched  to  Hillsborough,  where  he  was  sure  to  be  joined  by  a  host  of 
loyalists;  and  from  which,  Gates'  little  army  must  have  retired,  if  not  prevented 
by  the  rising  of  the  loyalists  in  force. 

All  these  plausible  anticipations  were  blasted  by  events  as  unexpected  as 
they  were  vexatious. 

As  Ferguson's  approach  to  the  mountains  had  excited  an  opposition  which 
he  had  not  anticipated,  so  Lord  Cornwallis'  movement  to  North  Carolina 
awakened  the  whigs  of  Waxsaws  and  Mecklenburg  to  efforts  of  daring  and 
active  hostility  which  entitled  them  to  receive  from  the  British  commander  the 
distinguishing  epithet  of  "  the  hornet's  nest."  On  this  occasion  was  elicited 
the  first  spark  of  that  military  genius  which  was  destined,  on  the  planes  of 
New  Orleans,  to  shed  so  much  lustre  on  the  American  arms.* 
.  Fleeing  from  their  homes,  and  removing  their  families  as  far  from  the 
approaching  danger  as  they  could,  the  inflexible  whigs  collected  under  popular 
leaders,  and  beset  every  road  on  which  the  foraging  parties  of  the  enemy  had 
to  pass.  Often  in  small  volunteer  parties,  they  approached  the  pickets  and 
encampment  of  die  enemy,  and  selected  their  objects  with  unerring  aim. 
Watching  the  rear  of  the  army,  no  straggler  escaped  them,  and  expresses, 
escorts,  and  detachments  found  no  safety  from  their  persecutions. 

Among  the  partisans  who  now  rendered  themselves  conspicuous,  \vas  the 
late  general,  then  Captain  W.  R.  Davie.  Scarcely  attained  to  the  age  of  man 
hood,  he  gathered  around  him  a  small  band  of  brave  and  adventurous  youth, 
and  showed  himself  every  where,  where  danger  was  to  be  sought,  or  service 
•  performed.  It  was  he  who,  at  the  head  of  his  little  corps,  made  such  a  stand 
at  the  court-house  of  Charlotte,  as  actually  brought  the  whole  British  army 
to  a  halt.  Nor  was  it  a  bloodless  effort  that  dislodged  him. 


*  General  Jackson,  then  14  years  of  age,  took  the  field  on  the  advance  of  Lord  Cornwallis.  Lit 
tle  was  it  imagined  that  the  obscure  strippling,  who  was  contemptuously  ordered  by  a  British  officer 
to  clean  his  boots,  and  sabred  for  his  disobedience,  would  be  honoured  with  die  greatest  triumph 
ever  acquired  over  a  British  army.  Heaven  decreed  to  him  a  signal  opportunity  of  appeasing  the 
manes  of  a  mother,  aad  a  brother,  who  perished  through  cruelty. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  809 

But  General  Davidson,  then  in  command  of  the  Mecklenburg  mlliti?,  ne-   CHAP. 
cessarily  acted  the  most  conspicuous  part.     Brave,   active,  intelligent, 
influential,  he  so  inspirited  the  inhabitants  in  their  opposition,  as  to  leave  no 
rest  to  the  enemy  by  day  or  by  night.     Judiciously  instructing  his  men  to  dis 
tribute  themselves  in  small  parties  so  as  to  be  every  where  at  once,  and  leave 
no  prominent  point  for  the  enemy  to  strike  at,  he  greatly  delayed  and  incom 
moded  their  advance. 

Lord  Cornwallis  had  passed  Charlotte  and  was  advancing  to  Salisbury, 
after  leaving  orders  for  Ferguson  to  follow  him  across  the  Yadkin,  when  he 
received  the  appalling  intelligence  of  the  catastrophe  of  King's  Mountain* 
Whatever  had  been  his  ulterior  views,  it  was  necessary  now  to  abandon  them. 
For  the  fall  of  Ferguson  had  so  inspirited  the  militia  beyond  the  Catawba, 
that  they  now*  began  to  gather  round  him  in  shoals.  Could  Campbell's  six 
thousand  men  have  been  kept  together,  and  marched  across  the  Catawba  into 
the  rear  of  the  British  army,  a  distance  not  thirty  miles,  the  crest-fallen  Gates 
might  still  have  had  a  hope  of  giving  to  America  another  exhibition  as  brilliant 
as  that  which  crowned  his  efforts  at  Saratoga.  He  had,  by  this  time,  collected 
about  one  thousand  three  hundred  regulars,  and  some  militia,  and  the  interval 
between  himself  and  his  now  retreating  enemy,  did  not  much  exceed  eighty 
miles. 

But  immediately  after  the  affair  of  King's  Mountain,  the  militia  had  marched 
home  under  their  respective  leaders,  and  by  a  most  unexampled  act  of  lenity 
to  then-  militia  prisoners,  had  suffered  them  also  to  return  to  their  homes,  on  a 
solemn  promise  to  keep  aloof  for  the  future  from  the  existing  contest.  This 
was  a  most  unfortunate  measure,  inasmuch  as  there  were  then  many  prisoners 
from  Sumpter  and  Gates' defeats,  perishing  in  the  dungeons  of  Charleston; 
for  near  a  thousand  of  whom,  the  captured  loyalists  ought  to  have  furnished 
the  means  of  liberation.  Yet  the  indulgence  was  not  indiscriminately  ex 
tended  to  all.  Ten  were  taken  from  the  ranks  on  the  field  of  battle  and  htinjr 

o 

in  the  view  of  both  armies. 

Many  severe  animadversions  ha,re  been  showered  on  the  brave  men  who 
fought  at  King's  Mountain ;  and  they  have  been  feebly  repelled,  or  quiescently 
admitted  by  most  of  the  American  writers.  As  to  the  charge  of  indignity 
shown  to  the  body  of  Ferguson,  it  docs  not  merit  a  serious  refutation.  But  as 
to  the  execution  of  ten*  of  their  prisoners,  the  fact  is  unquestionable;  it  never 
was  disavowed. 


There  were  eleven  selected,  but  one  of  them  broke  from  the  party  conveying  them  to  execution: 


310  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE, 

CvinPf  ^ar  m  its  m§1Mcst  f°rra> is  so  fall  °f  horrors,  that  the  mind  recoils  from  vin- 
vx-v^  dicating  any  act  that  can,  in  the  remotest  degree,  increase  its  miseries.  To 
these,  no  act  contributes  more  than  that  of  retaliation.  Hence  no  act  should 
be  ventured  upon  with  more  solemn  deliberation,  and  none  so  proper  to  be 
confined  to  a  commander  in  chief,  or  the  civil  power.  But  the  brave  men  who 
fought  in  the  affair  of  King's  Mountain,  are  not  to  be  left  loaded  with  unmerited 
censure.  The  calmest  and  most  dispassionate  reflection  upon  their  conduct,  on 
this  occasion,  will  lead  to  the  conviction,  that  if  they  committed  any  offence,  it 
was  against  their  own  country,  not  against  the  enemy.  That  instead  of  bein^ 

•  instigated  by  a  thirst  of  blood,  they  acted  solely  with  a  view  to  put  an  end  to 
its  effusion ;  and  boldly,  for  this  purpose,  took  upon  themselves  all  the  dangers 
that  a  system  of  retaliation  could  superinduce.  The  officers  of  the  American 
army,  who,  twelve  months  afterwards,  hazarded  their  lives  by.  calling  upon 
their  general  to  avenge  the  death  of  Haync,  justly  challenge  the  gratitude  and 
admiration  of  their  country ;  but  the  men  of  King's  Mountain,  (for  it  is  avowed 
as  a  popular  act,  and  not  that  of  their  cliief  alone,)  merit  the  additional  repu 
tation  of  having  assumed  on  themselves  the  entire  responsibility,  without  wish 
ing  to  involve  the  regular  army  in  their  dangers.  And  this  was  done  in  the 
plenitude  of  British  triumph,  and  when  not  a  man  of  them  could  count  on 
safety  for  an  hour,  in  any  tiling  but  his  own  bravery  and  vigilance.  But  what 
was  the  prospect  before  them  f  They  were  all  proscribed  men ;  the  measures 
of  Lord  Cornwallis  had  put  them  out  of  the  protection  of  civilized  warfare ; 
and  the  spirit  in  which  his  proclamations  and  instructions  were  executed  by 
his  officers,  had  put  them  out  of  the  protection  of  common  humanity.  The 
massacres  at  Camden  had  occurred  not  six  weeks  before,  and  those  of  Brown 
at  Augusta,  scarcely  half  that  time.  Could  they  look  on  and  sec  this  system 
of  cruelty  prosecuted,  and  not  try  the  only  melancholy  measure  that  could 
check  it?  The  effect  proved  that  there  was  as  much  of  reflection  as  of  passion 
in  the  act;  for  the  little  despots  who  then  held  the  country,  dared  prosecute  the 
measure  no  farther.  Another  and  an  incontesdble  proof  that  blind  revenge 
did  not  preside  over  the  counsels  that  consigned  these  men  to  death,  is  drawn 

.  from  the  deliberation  with  which  they  were  selected,  and  the  mildness  mani 
fested  to  the  residue  of  the  prisoners.     It  has  been  before  observed,  that  in  the 
*     ranks  of  Colonel  Ferguson  there  were  many  individuals  notorious  as  habitual 


<md  although  he  had  to  make  his  way  through  a  thousand  of  the  best  horsemen  and  marksmen  in 
the  world,  such  was  the  universal  admiration  or  feeling  on  the  occasion,  not  one  would  lift  a  hand  to 
stop  him. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  311 

plunderers  and  murderers.     What  was  to  be  done  with  these  ?    There  were   CHAP. 

.  vni 

no  courts  of  justice  to  punish  their  offences,  and  to  detain  them  as  prisoners  of  ^^-^^^ 

war  was  to  make  them  objects  of  exchange.  Should  such  pests  to  society'be 
again  enlarged,  and  suffered  to  renew  their  outrages  ?  Capture  in  arms  does 
not  exempt  the  deserter  from  the  gallows;  why  should  it  the  cold-blooded 
murderer?  There  was  no  alternative  left;  and  the  officers,  with  all  the  atten 
tion  to  form,  that  circumstances  would  permit,  and  more  a  great  deal,  it  is 
believed,  than  either  Brown*  or  Cornwallis  had  exhibited,  could  only-  form  a 
council,  and  consign  them  to  the  fate  that  would  have  awaited  them  in  the 
regular  administration  of  justice. 

Yet,  however  justice  or  policy  may  have  sanctioned  the  act,  there  would 
have  been  infinitely  more  magnanimity  in  abstaining  from  this  act  of  severity. 
The  act  of  mercy  would  have  been  grateful  to  Him  who  had  so  signally  crowned 
their  arms  with  victory ;  and  a  remote  gaol  might  perhaps,  have  confined  to 
inactivity  those  who  could  not  be  enlarged  without  exposing  the  country  to 
pillage  and  murder.  Besides  avoiding  exposing  others  as  well  as  themselves  to 


*  The  following  is  the  account  given  of  the  conduct  of  Brown  at  Augusta,  after  the  affair  of  the 
,  in  which  Clarke  was  repulsed:  "  Captain  Asby,  an  officer  noted  for  his  bravery  and  humanity, 
with  twenty-eight  others,  including  the  wounded,  fell  into  the  hands  of  tl>e  enemy,  and  were  disposed 
of,  under  the  sanguinary  order  oT  Lord  Cornwallis,  in  the  following  manner:  Captain  Asby  and 
twelve  of  the  wounded  prisoners,  were  hanged  on  the  stair-case  of  die  white  house,  where  Brown 
was  lying  wounded,  so  that  he  might  have  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  victims  of  his  vengeance  ex 
pire.  Their  bodies  were  delivered  up  to  the  Indians,  who  scalped  and  otherwise  mangled  them,  and 

threw  them  into  the  river.  John  Burgamy,  Scott  Ruder,  Jordan  Ricketson, Darling,  and  two 

youths,  brothers,  of  the  name  of  Glass,  were  all  hanged ;  the  former  of  these  youths  was  shot 
through  the  thigh,  and  could  not  be  carried  off  when  the  retreat  was  ordered,  and  the  younger  brother 
could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  leave  him;  his  tenderness  and  affection  cost  him  his  life:  a  horse  was 
the  fatal  scaffold  on  which  the}'  were  mounted,  and  from  the  gibbet  they  entered  together  the  long 
journey  of  eternity/'  What  was  the  crime  of  these  yoirth  ?  They  certainly  never  had  been  re 
quested  to  take  protection.  But  the  narrative  does  not  end  here.  <;  All  this  was  merciful  when 
compared  with  the  fate  which  awaited  the  other  prisoners;  they  were  delivered  to  the  Indians  to  glut 
their  vengeance  for  the  loss  they  had  sustained  in  the  action  and  the  sdge.  The  Indians  formed  a 
circle  and  placed  the  prisoners  in  the  centre,  and  their  eagerness  to  shed  blood  sparttl  the  victims 
from  tedious  torture:  some  were  scalped  before  they  sunk  under  the  Indian  weapon  of  war;  others 
were  thrown  into  fires  and  roasted  to  death.  The  record  of  these  transactions  is  now  before  the 
author  from  the  pens  of  British  officers  who  were  present,  who  e^ultingly  communicated  it  to  their 
friends  in  Savannah.  Charleston,  and  London,  where  it  stands  upon  record  in  the  papers  of  the  day.'7 
M'CaWs  History  of  Georgia,  rol.  2.  p.  326. 

Should  the  British  nation  ever  be  induced  to  believe  that  such  horrors  have  disgraced  the  sanction 
of  British  authority,  their  indignation  will  exceed  that  of  those  who  witnessed  them  and  suffered 
under  them. 


312  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   the  dangers  of  retaliation,  tliev  might  have  been  satisfied  with  the  numerous 

VIII 

^r^->->  victims  then  bleeding  around  them,  who  had  fallen  in  honourable  warfare. 
And  there  is  very  little  doubt  that  they  would  have  been  satisfied,  had  they  not 
been  goaded  by  the  thought  that  the  enemy  believed  they  did  not  dare  to  reta 
liate. 

When  the  remains  of  the  southern  army  became  concentrated  at  Hillsbo- 
rough,  they  were  placed  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Williams;  and  being 
hutted  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  town,  by  dint  of  perseverance  in  their  offi 
cers,  and  the  best  of  dispositions  in  themselves,  they  soon  resumed  their  wonted 
discipline.  Yet  they  were  not  without  temptations  to  adopt  a  contrary  con 
duct.  This  honourable  testimony  to  their  good  conduct  is  recorded  by  one 
who  shared  in  all  their  toils,  and  had  better  opportunities  than  any  other  to 
judge  of  their  merits.  "  Absolutely  without  pay — almost  destitute  of  cloth 
ing — often  with  only  half  a  ration — and  never  with  a  whole  one,  (without  sub 
stituting  one  article  for  another,)  not  a  soldier  was  heard  to  murmur." 

Nor  should  one  honourable  anecdote  of  their  good  conduct  ever  be  forgot 
ten.  When  the  Pennsylvania  line  revolted  and  yet  had  the  fidelity  to  deliver 
up  the  agents  sent  among  them  by  the  enemy,  a  corrupt  world  gazed  with 
astonishment  on  an  instance  of  such  fidelity  exhibited  under  such  circumstances. 
But  though  it  has  never  been  told,  the  example  had  been  set  by  the  sol 
diers  under  Williams:  but  it  was  in  a  remote  part  of  America,  and  no  effort 
was  made  to  blazon  it  to  the  world.  It  is  krown  that  emissaries  had  been 
sent  from  Camden  into  the  neighbourhood  of  Hillsborough,  and  some  of  them 
who  ventured  to  tamper  wit!)  the  American  troops,  were  actually  delivered  up 
by  them  to  the  civil  authority  and  punished. 

On  the  advance  of  General  Gates  towards  Camden,  he  had  fortunately  been 
obliged  to  leave  two  pieces  of  artillery  on  the  road,  for  want  of  horses  to  carry 
them.  These  were  now  brought  up  to  camp,  and  a  few  iron  pieces  gathered 
from  various  places,  being  also  collected,  formed  a  small  park  of  artillery. 

The.  legislature  of  North  Carolina  being  in  session  when  General  Gates 
arrived,  he  presented  an  earnest  request  to  them,  to  make  efforts  to  call  out 
militia,  collect  munitions,  and  take  such  measures  as  the  resources  of  the 
country  would  admit  of,  to  put  him  in  a  condition  again  to  take  the  field.  The 
legislature  manifested  the  best  disposition  imaginable  to  comply,  but  such 
was  the  excitement  produced  among  the  loyalists  by  the  recent  successes  of  the 
British  arm}",  that  the  assembly  itself  could  scarcely  sit  in  safety;  and  an  oppo 
sition  was  sustained  from  the  disaffected  which  paralysed  every  effort  that  was 
made.  They  could  scarcely  furnish  provision  for  the  troops:  and  when,  after- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE, 

•  «. 

-  wards,"  Lord  Cornwallis  passed  Charlotte  and  advanced  upon  Salisbury,  the   cn.\r. 
Confidence  of  the  loyalists  appeared  approaching  to  open  insurrection.  v^-^ 

Measures  had  also  been  adopted  to  bring  forward  reinforcements  from  Vir- 
.  ginia;  for  that  state  having  been  engaged  in  recruiting,  there  was  still  a  hope 
of  drawing  some  men  from  her  depots.  All  that  could  be  sent  into  the  field 
were  promptly  forwarded,  but  unfortunately,  in  no  better  condition  for  taking 
the  field  than  the  troops  encamped  at  Hillsborough.  On  the  16th  September, 
Colonel  Williams  says,  "  Colonel  Bufort  arrived  from  Virginia  with  the  man 
gled  remains  of  his  unfortunate  regiment,  reinforced  by  about  two  hundred 
raw  recruits ;  all  of  them  in  a  ragged  condition.  Uniform  and  other  clothing 
were  to  be  sent  after  them,  but  they  never  arrived.  About  the  same  time,  a 
small  detachment  of  Virginia  militia  arrived,  without  even  arms." 

Of  die  men  whom  Portcrficld  led  into  action  on  the  16th,  only  about  fifty 
escaped;  these,  added  ta  Bufort's  reinforcement,  constituted  the  Virginia  line 
then  in  the  field,  about  three  hundred  in  number:  to  which  are  to  be  added, 
the  remains  of  Harrison's  regiment  of  artillery,  commanded  by  Captain  An 
thony  Singleton;  the  numbers  we  do  not  find  specified,  but  the  brunt  of  the 
battle  of  the  16th  had  fallen  very  heavily  upon  this  corps. 

Gates  now  only  waited  for  a  supply  of  clothing  and  the  embodying  of  the 
militia,  to  take  the  field. 

Upon  the  advance  of  Lord  Cornwallis  from  Camclcn,  extraordinary  exer 
tions  had  been  made  by  North  Carolina  to  draw  out  a  respectable  militia- 
force.  The  command  of  them  was  conferred  on  General  Smallwood,  and  at 
their  head  he  advanced  to  the  Yadkin. 

About  this  time  the  celebrated  Colonel  Daniel  Morgan,  who  had  already 
reaped  such  harvests  of  laurels  at  Quebec  and  Saratoga,  arrived  in  camp.  lie 
"had  been  instructed  so  to  do,  from  his  high  reputation  as  a  partisan  officer, 
and  great  popularity  as  a  commander  of  militia.  A  few  young  men,  emu 
lous  to  serve  under  him  and  near  him,  were  all  the  force  he  brought  with  him. 

Immediately  on  liis  arrival,  General  Gates  ordered  four  companies  to  be 
drafted  from  the  regiments,  to  be  equipped  as  light-infantry,  and  to  form  a 
partisan  corps  to  serve  under  Colonel  Morgan.  The  arrival  of  Colonels 
White  and  Washington,  with  the  remains  of  the  first  and  third  regiments  of 
dragoons,  so  roughly  handled  by  Tarlcton  after  the  fall  of  Charleston,  enabled 
the  general  to  add  a  body  of  seventy  cavalry  to  Morgan's  command.  These 
were  commanded  by  Colonel  Washington,  as  Colonel  White  appears  never  to 
have  met  with  a  refusal  when  he  solicited  leave  of  absence.  To  these  wen} 
added  a  small  corps  of  riflemen,  about  sixty  in  number,  under  Major. 

40 


*  • 

314  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

* 

CviHP"       ^  extraordinary  efforts  the  government  of  North  Carolina  had  succeeded 

collecting  a  small  supply  of  clothing,  which  soon  after  arrived  in  camp,  and 
enabled  General  Gates  to  furnish  Morgan's  command  with  a  suit  of  comforta-. 
ble  clothing  round,  before  they  entered  upon  the  severe  and  active  duties 
which  they  were  detached  to  perform.  The  rest  of  the  troops  also  were  par- 
dally  supplied  with  clothing  from  the  same  quarter;  but  tents  they  had  none, 
and  very  few  blankets  in  proportion  to  their  numbers. 

Yet  the  winter  had  commenced,  and  without  a  murmur,  nay,  with  expres- 
pressions  of  anxiety  to  proceed,  on  the  2d  November  the  army  took  up  the  line 
of  march  for  Salisbury. 

Morgan's  command  had  marched  the  day  before;  and  while  General  Small- 
wood  with  his  militia  took  post  at  Providence,  six  miles  below  Charlotte,  and 
the  main  army  encamped  and  hutted  itself  in  the  latter  place,  Morgan  pressed 
forward  into  the  neighbourhood  of  Camden,  and  an  American  force  again 
occupied  the  ground  which  had  been  die  scene  of  the  disaster  of  the  16th  of 
•August. 

Such  was  die  state  of  the  war,  and  the  posidon  of  die  army,  when  General 
Greene  arrived  and  took  command  of  the  southern  department. 

After  the  fall  of  Ferguson,  Lord  Cornwallis  crossed  the  Catawba  River  at 
Land's  Ford,  and  took  post  at  Winsborough.  This  completed  his  chain  of 
posts  from  Georgetown  to  Augusta,  in  a  circle,  the  centre  of  which  would 
have  been  about  Beaufort  in  South  Carolina,  equidistant  from  Charleston  and 
Savannah.  These  posts  consisted  of  Georgetown,  Camden,  Winsborough, 
Ninety-Six  and  Augusta.  Within  this  circle  was  an  interior  chain,  at  the  dis 
tance  of  about  half  the  radius,  consisting  of  Fort  Watson  on  the  road  to  Cam 
den,  Mott's  house,  and  Granby  on  the  Congaree.  Dorchester  and  Orangeburg 
on  the  road  both  to  Ninety-Six  and  Granby,  were  fortified  as  posts  of  rest  and 
deposit  on  the  line  of  communication,  as  was  Monk's  Comer,  or  Biggin 
Church,  and  some  other  small  posts  on  that  to  Camden.  These  posts  were 
all  judiciously  chosen,  both  for  covering  the  country  and  obtaining  subsistence; 
anil  the  English  writers  speak  with  exultation  of  the  excellent  and  abundant 
lare  produced  from  the  confiscated  and  sequestered  estates  in  their  vicinity. 

ill  these  positions  the  British  army  was  stationed  when  Greene  took  coni- 
tinund  of  the  southern  department.  Their  numbers  dien  amounted  to  about 
live  thousand  men;  their  situation  \vas  highly  favourable  to  recruiting,  and 
parties  for  that  purpose  were  pushed  into  the  tory-scttlcments  in  all  directions. 
Colonel  Tarleton  acknowledges  they  were  very  successful.  No  less  than  one 
hundred  and  fiftv  were  added  to  his  own  corps.  In  addidon  to  the  increase 
from,  this  source,  five  hundred  recruits  and  convalescents,  belonging  to  die 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  SI: 

different  regiments  in  this  quarter,  had  recently  arrived  from  New  York,  and  r»r\r. 
joined  die  corps  they  belonged  to.  In  December,  their  numbers  were  further  ^^^-^ 
augmented  by  a  reinforcement  of  two  thousand  three  hundred  men"  under 
General  Leslie.  This  body  had  been  employed,  it  will  be  seen,  in  Virginia: 
but  upon  the  news  of  the  advance  of  Gates  from  Hillsborough,  and  the  move 
ments  of  the  militia  which  followed  or  attended  it,  they  were  ordered  to 
'Charleston  to  reinforce  Cornwallis.  Major  General  Leslie,  on  his  arrival, 
found  an  order  to  join  Cornwallis  with  about  fifteen  hundred  men  of  his 
command,  consisting  of  the  brigade  of  guards,  die  Hessian  regiment  of  Boze, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  yagers,  and  a  detachment  of  light  dragoons.*  As 
Cornwallis  was  then  preparing  to  advance  through  North  Carolina  into  Vir 
ginia,  Leslie  was  ordered  to  take  the  route  by  Camclen,  there  to  await  ulterior 
orders. 

After  Marion's  exploit  in  releasing  the  prisoners  taken  at  Gates'  defeat,  he 
had  been  obliged  to  dismiss  his  followers,  and  retire  to  his  secret  and  imper 
vious  swamps.  Sumpter  also,  after  the  surprise  and  dispersion  of  his  force  on  , 
Fishing  Creek,  had  fallen  back  with  the  wreck  of  that  fatal  day,  to  the  neigh 
bourhood  of  the  mountains.  But  no  sooner  was  the  American  army  again  in 
motion,  than  they  emerged  from  their  several  retreats,  and  renewed  their 
harassing  and  distressing  enterprises  against  the  enemy  and  his  adherents. 
•  Tarleton's  successes  against  Sumpter,  and  the  ordinary  promptness  and 
celerity  of  his  motions,  pointed  him  out  to  Cornwallis  as  the  proper  officer  to 
ferret  out  and  destroy,  the  wary  Marion.  But  after  the  affair  of  Fishing  Creek, 
the  star  of  that  officer  commenced  its  decline;  he  never  afterwards  effected 
any  important  services  in  South  Carolina.  Marion  eluded  and  baffled  all  his 
adversary's  manoeuvres  to  bring  him  to  action,  and  remained  in  possession  of 
the  whole  disputed  ground  when  Tarleton  was  recalled  by  his  commander  to 
restrain  the  incursions  of  his  ancient  adversary,  Sumpter;  now  advanced 
within  twenty-eight  miles  of  the  British  camp  at  Winsborough.  Having 
formed  a  junction  with  Colonels  Taylor,  "Winn,  Middlcton,  Lacy,  Bratton,  Hill, 
and  a  number  of  the  whigs  of  Georgia  under  Clarke  and  Twiggs,  his  force 
had  accumulated  to  an  imposing  bulk;  and  at  the  head  of  these,  he  had  lain 
too  long  encamped  at  the  FUhdam  Ford,  on  the  cast  bank  of  the  Broad  River. 
The  daring  measure  of  approaching  so  near  the  royal  army,  suggested  to 
Cornwallis  the  enterprise  of  surprising  Sumpter  in  his  encampment.  Such 
importance  was  attached  to  securing  his  individual  person,  that  it  is  confi- 


*  Tarlctoji's  Campaign,  p. .?. 


.. 
316  •     MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


CvmP'   dcnily  asserted,  an  officer  vvidi  five  dragoons  had  it  specially  in  charge  to  force 
-^s^,  their  way  to  his  tent  and  take  him,  dead  or  alive. 

The  late  writers  on  the  American  war,  have  taken  Colonel  Tarlcton  as  their 
guide  in  relating  the  incidents  of  this  battle.  But  nothing  can  be  more  imper 
fect,  nay,  incorrect,  than  his  account  of  it.  It  was  not  the  fall  of  Wemyss,  or 
his  arriving  sooner  than  he  expected  at  the  American  camp,  that  produced  his 
failure;  but  the  firm  and  steady  resistance  made  to  him  by  the  American 
advanced  guard,  under  Colonel  Thomas  Taylor.  Wemyss  had  been  very 
fortunate  in  the  circumstances  attending  his  advance.  He  had  obtained  for 
his  guide  a  young  loyalist,  who  had  been  discharged  from  confinement  in  the 
American  camp  the  day  before;  and  his  detachment  narrowly  escaped  bein^ 
discovered  by  the  American  patrole,  which  had  been  pushed  far  in  advance, 
but  had  commenced  its  return  when  at  a  very  short  distance  from  meeting  the 
British  detachment  on  its  march. 

Fortunately,  General  Sumpter  had  given  more  than  usual  strength  to  his 
advance-guard,  and  Colonel  Taylor,  who  commanded  it,  had  caused  a  num 
ber  of  fires  to  be  lighted  in  front  of  his  line,  and  made  the  necessary  arrange 
ments,  in  case  of  alarm,  that  his  men  should  form  so  far  in  the  rear  of  the  fires 
as  to  be  concealed,  whilst  an  approaching  adversary  would  be  exposed  by  their 
light. 

The  army  had  lain  so  long  in  their  position,  that  he  anticipated  an  attack. 
The  vidcttcs  and  pickets  did  their  duty,  and  by  the  time  the  enemy  had 
reached  his  fires,  Taylor's  men  were  under  arms  and  prepared  to  receive  them. 
A  well-directed  and  murderous  fire  at  their  exposed  enemy,  prostrated  twen 
ty-three  of  them  on  the  spot  \vhere  they  received  it;  and  the  rest  imme 
diately  recoiled,  and  retreated  one  hundred  yards  in  front  of  the  fires  before 
they  could  be  rallied.  Here  the  infantry  dismounted,  and  being  formed,  ad 
vanced  steadily  on  the  Americans.  Several  discharges  were  exchanged,  but 
the  enemy  pressing  forward  with  the  bayonet  upon  Taylor's  troops,  who  had 
none,  he  ordered  his  men  to  retire  and  form  under  cover  of  a  rail  fence  in  his 
rear.  The  order  was  executed  with  precision,  and  a  well-directed  fire  from. 
this  position  compelled  the  enemy  to  draw  off.  One  of  those  curious  incidents. 
now  occurred  which  exemplify  the  vicissitudes  of  a  day  of  battle.  It  is  a  fact, 
that  at  the  instant  the  enemy  retreated,  the  party  that  repelled  them  had  also 
broken  and  fled.  But  the  darkness  of  die  night  concealed  their  flight;  and 
had  it  been  discovered  by  the  enemy,  the  other  troops  were  under  arms  in  the. 
rear  to  prevent  his  availing  himself  of  it.* 

*  The  fatf  of  one  individual  deserves  notice.     This  was  Sealy,  the  loyalist  who  acted  as  the 


•  «  .• 

.  . 

•  .  , 

*.   MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  317 

*  * 

.    The  highly  military  conduct  of  Colonel  Taylor  was  the  decisive  cause  of  CHAP. 
this  repulse.     The  obscurity  of  die  night  rendered  it  impossible  for  the  rest  of  ^~^-^/ 
the  troops  to  yield  their  assistance,  or  the  affair  would  have  been  fatal  to  the 
British  party.     There  were  not  above  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  Americans 
actually  engaged.     The  rest  were  prepared  for  action,  had  the  enemy  suc 
ceeded  in  passing  Taylor;  but  could  not  fire,  lest  their  arms  should  be  pointed 
towards  their  friends.* 

The  repulse  of  this  party  gave  such  eclat  to  the  American  arms  that  Tarleton 
was  immediately  recalled  from  the  pursuit  of  Marion  to  retrieve  the  lost 
ground  of  the  royal  cause,  lie  lost  no  time  in  obeying  the  mandate,  and  im-  - 
mediately  on  his  return,  entered  on  the  pursuit  of  the  American  party,  until 
his  career  was  checked  by  the  aflair  at  Blackstock's  house,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tiger  River.  Here  he  was  made  severely  to  feel  the  consequences  of  that 
contempt  for  his  adversary  which  had  been  imbibed  from  his  own  previous 
successes,  and  which  was  destined  soon  to  strip  him  of  all  the  military  plumes 
in  wliich  his  exploits  had  heretofore  decorated  his  character.  Never  did  a 
more  uncandid  account  of  an  action  find  its  way  into  the  records  of  history, 
than  that  which  Colonel  Tarleton  himself  has  given  of  this  event.  He  has 
managed  to  convert  a  signal  defeat  into  a  brilliant  victory. 

The  astonishing  rapidity  with  which  Colonel  Tarleton  returned  from  the 
pursuit  of  Marion,  exposed  Sumptcr's  command  to  the  most  imminent  dan 
ger.  Whilst  the  cavalry  and  light  troops  of  the  British  army  were  detached 
on  a  distant  expedition,  Sumpter  had  no  apprehension  from  Cormvallis  supe 
riority  in  infantry.  He  knew  he  could  retreat  with  superior  celerity,  for  he 
was  entirely  unencumbered  with  baggage.  His  men  wanted  no  covering  but 


guide.  The  sabre  wound  of  which  he  died  proved  that  it  was  inflicted  by  his  own  party;  and  it  is 
thought  to  have  occurred  thus:  after  conducting  the  party  that  penetrated  to  Sumpter's  tent,  (which 
was  easily  done,  as  it  stood  beside  the  main  road  which  crossed  the  encampment,)  in  his  hurry  to  re 
join  the  main  body  he  forgot  that  the  presence  of  the  party  was  necessary  to  prevent  his  being  mis 
taken,  by  his  homespun  clothing,  for  an  American.  And  thus  he  incurred  the  lute  that  he  merited. 

*  Colonel  Wemyss  was  found  wounde*f  in  the  morning,  shot  through  both  thighs.  His  being  left 
on  the  ground,  is  the  strongest  proof  of  the  precipitate  flight  of  his  men.  He  had  recently  returned 
from  carrying  into  effect  Lord  Cornwallis*  measures  of  mercy  against  the  whigs  on  Clack  River  and 
the  Pee  Dee.  The  whigs  had  reason  to  believe,  that  he  had  in  person  attended  at  the  execution  of  a 
respectable  citi/.en  named  Cu/.ack.  He  also  had  in  his  pocket  the  report  of  the  houses  he  had  burnt 
over  the  heads  of  the  families  of  the  whigs.  The  paper  was  handed  to  General  Sumpter;  he  read 
it,  threw  it  in  the  fire,  and  ordered  every  attention  to  be  paid  to  the  wounded  officer.  Col.  Wemyss. 
is  said  to  have  been  not  a  little  surprised  at  such  treatment. 


818  .-•   MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

.  f 

CHAP,  the  heavens,  and  were  satisfied  to  subsist  on  the  coarsest  diet.  Provided  with 
\^v^/  their  own  horses,  and  intimately  acquainted  with  all  the  roads,  streams,  and 
recesses  of  the  country,  they  could  move  with  the  speed  of  the  Arab ;  and 
when  pressed,  disperse  and  retire,  to  meet  again  at  some  place  of  rendezvous 
assigned  by  their  commander.  He,  therefore,  after  the  affair  with  Wemyss, 
still  hung  upon  the  skirts  of  Cornwallis,  and  proved  himself  a  most  disquiet 
ing  neighbour. 

But  he  now  learned  that  Tarleton  was  on  the  march  to  meet  him,  furnished 
with  artillery,  his  infantry  on  horseback,  and  a  large  force  of  well-mounted 
.  cavalry:  being  himself  destitute  of  both  cavalry  and  artillery,  he  was  forced  to 
hasten  lus  retreat  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  the  rapid  Tiger  between  himself 
and  his  adversary.  By  the  celerity  of  his  movements,  he  reached  the  banks 
of  the  river  on  the  20th  of  November,  and  soon  after,  the  British  legionary 
troops  accompanied  by  a  mounted  detachment  of  the  63d  regiment  appeared 
in  view. 

Blackstock's  house  is  on  the  south-west  bank  of  the  Tiger  River,  and,  toge 
ther  with  the  ground  about  it,  afforded  a  highly  advantageous  position  for 
drawing  up  a  small  force  in  order  of  battle.  Sumpter  stationed  lus  men  so  as 
to  avail  himself  of  every  advantage ;  not  doubting  that  the  whole  force  of  the 
enemy  was  upon  him,  he  resolved  to  maintain  his  ground  during  the  day,  and, 
under  cover  of  the  night  pass  the  river  and  disperse. 

Tarleton's  command  consisted  of  his  legion,  a  battalion  of  the  71st,  and  a 
.  detachment  of  the  63d  British  regiments;  with  a  lieutenant's  command  of  the 
royal  artillery  and  one  field-piece.     Of  this  force,  about  400  were  mounted  ; 
and  with  these  Tarleton  had  pressed  forward  to  overtake  and  retard  the  Ame 
rican  party. 

It  was  not  long  before  Sumpter  discovered  that  the  whole  British  force  had 
not  come  up,  and  very  judiciously  resolved  to  bailie  the  views  of  Tarleton,  by 
commencing  the  attack  and  cutting  him  up  in  detail.  Tarleton  supposing  tliat 
he  had  his  prey  secure,  immediately  on  arriving  occupied  an  elevated  piece  of 
ground  in  front  of  the  American  position,  dismounted  his  men  to  relieve  them 
selves  and  horses,  until  the  arrival  of  his  infantry  and  artillery  should  enable 
him  to  commence  the  attack  with  advantage.  Sumpter  seized  the  critical  mo 
ment,  and  succeeded  in  repu  sing  him. 

The  Americans  not  being  near  enough  to  use  with  elTcct  their  rifles  am) 

fowling-pieces,  with  which  chiefly  they  were  armed,  descended  from  their 

•  heights,  and  poured  in  upon  their  enemy  a  well-directed  fire.  The  G3d  pressed 

forward  with  the  bayonet,  and  the  Americans  retired  to  their  heights, — because 

they  had  no  bayonets  to  meet  their  adversaries  with,  and  were  previously 


. 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  319 

,  *•  3. , 

ordered  to  do  so.  This  brought  the  enemy  within  rifle-shot,  and  at  the  foot  CHAP. 
of  the  hill,  they  received  a  fire  which  brought  many  of  them  to  the  ground  ^^-^ 
and  threw  the  rest  into  confusion.  Tarleton  seeing  his  danger,  made  a  despe 
rate  effort  to  obviate  it,  by  charging  directly  up  the  hill ;  but  the  Americans 
stood  firm,  and  his  ranks  were  thinned  by  the  deadly  riile.  Drawing  off  his 
whole  corps,  he  then  wheeled  upon  die  Americans'  left  towards  Blackstock's 
house,  where  the  ground  was  not  so  precipitous,  and  a  better  footing  was 
afforded  for  his  horses.  Here  die  Georgians,  were  posted  under  Clarke  and 
Twiggs,  and  their  little  corps  of  about  150  men,  displayed  the  courage  of  vete 
rans  ;  but  the  pressure  of  Tarletou's  whole  force  was  too  much  for  them  to 
withstand,  and  at  this  point  was  gained  the  only  semblance  of  advantage  on 
the  side  of  the  enemy.  The  left  gave  way;  but  the  timely  interposition  of  the 
reserve,  under  Colonel  R.  Winn,  and  the  enfilading  fire  from  the  house,  in 
which  a  company  had  been  posted,  soon  restored  the  fortune  of  the  day ;  and 
the  officer  who,  in  the  face  of  the  world,  has  boasted  of  a  victory,  actually  ran 
away,  and  was  pursued,  and  die  Americans  say,  was  saved  by  the  darkness  of 
the  night. 

His  assertion  is,  that  "  from  the  time  the  left  yielded,  the  Americans  began 
to  disperse,  and  nothing  but  the  approach  of  night  prevented  the  pursuit." 
Strange,  then!  how  the  Americans  came  to  possess  themselves  of  all  his 
wounded,  and  many  of  his  horses!  The  fact  is,  he  never  halted  until  he  joined 
the  residue  of  his  corps,  then  two  miles  distant,  and  there  he  encamped.  The 
Americans,  inferior  in  number  and  destitute  of  cavalry  and  artillery,  could  not 
venture  from  their  heights,  and  had  obtained  all  they  fought  for, — safety  in 
crossing  the  river,  and  security  in  dispersing  among  their  friends.  That  they 
did  not  retreat  precipitately,  is  obvious  from  the  acknowledgement  which  truth 
has  wrung  from  the  British  commander,  "  that  before  they  left  the  ground, 
they  paid  the  most  humane  attention  to  the  wounded  of  the  enemy."  These 
are  said,  by  the  Americans,  to  have  amounted  to  one  hundred,  and  the  dead  to 
ninety-two;  but  Taletoirs  account  reduces  the  whole  to  fifty,  with  what  fidelity 
may  be  determined  by  the  following  fact.  He  makes  the  American  loss  to 
have  consisted  of  three  colonels,  and  upwards  of  one  hundred  others  killed  and 
wounded;  whereas,  in  truth,  there  were  but  three  men  killed,  and  the  general 
and  three  men  wounded.  The  enemy  never  reached  the  American  line  with 
the  bayonet;  and  as  well  from  the  elevated  position  of  the  latter,  as  the  ordi 
nary  habit  of  the  British  soldiers,  they  fired  entirely  over  the  heads  of  the 
Americans.  The  truth  is,  that  so  quietly  did  the  Americans  remain  in  posses 
sion  of  the  ground,  that  their  rolls  were  called  before  they  marched  away.* 


MidJicton.     Taylor.     M-Call. 


320  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

»  ..*  * 
,  CHAP.       There  is  not  less  contradiction  in  the  accounts  relative  to  the  numbers 

vtu. 
\rf~v^/  engaged,  than  relative  to  those  who  fell  in  the  action.     Tarleton  makes  his 

number  280;  and  an  American  writer  adopts  it  as  the  truth,  because  "  he  must 
be  supposed  to  have  been  best  informed  on  this  subject."*  This  conclusion 
assumes  that  the  fidelity  of  the  British  colonel  was  unquestionable ;  but  we  have 
.  already  seen  some  reasons  to  hesitate  at  adopting  this  admission;  and  there  are 
still  others  of  equal  wreight.  The  writer  himself  would  have  hesitated  at  it,  had 
he_  compared  the  loss  which  he  admits  on  the  side  of  the  enemy  with  the  num 
ber  engaged.  One  hundred  and  ninety-two  men  to  have  fallen  out  of  two  hun 
dred  and  eighty,  is  an  unexampled  carnage  in  modern  battles,  unless  the  catas 
trophe  of  the  drama  should  resemble  that  of  Colonel  Bufort's.  But  to  sustain 
such  a  loss  .and  then  to  claim  the  victory,  would  have  been  an  instance  of 
extraordinary  effrontery.  There  can  be  litttle  doubt  that  Tarleton  had  with 
him  a  much  greater  number  of  the  63d  regiment  than  he  admits.  The  Annual 
Register  asserts  that  he  had  the  whole;  and  if  he  took  with  him  all  his  men 
*  who  were  mounted,  this  is  probably  the  correct  account ;  for  in  the  letter  of 
Cornwallis  to  him,  of  the  10th  November  ,f  we  find  these  words:  "  The  63d 
are  well  mounted  for  infantry,  and  may  occasionally  ride  in  your  train." 
These  were  the  men  who  accompanied  him  in  pursuit  of  Sumpter;  he  admits 
their  number  to  have  been  but  eighty;  but  it  would  be  supposing  in  their 
commander  madness,  and  in  his  followers  more  resolution  than  falls  to  the 
ordinary  lot  of  man,  to  have  charged  with  so  small  a  number  as  eighty,  the 
whole  American  force,  advantageously  posted  on  a  commanding  eminence. 
The  Americans  assert  that  their  number  approached  nearer  two  hundred. 
Tarleton  admits  his  cavalry  to  have  been  170,  (Cormvullis  says  190,)  and  this 
brings  the  number  to  near  the  American  account  of  400  un  the  British  side. 
Three  hundred  more  are  said  to  have  remained  in  the  rear  with  the  artillery. 

Not  less  variance  exists  as  to  the  number  of  the  Americans.  Tarleton 
makes  it  1,000;  but  the  Americans,  reduce  their  numbers  to  420,  or  at  the 
utmost  500. 

There  are  two  other  points  in  which  the  narrative  of  Colonel  Tarleton  is 
held  to  be  exceptionable.  He  relates  that  he  cut  up  the  American  rear-guard 
and  carried  off  fifty  prisoners.  On  these  facts  the  testimony  of  the  Americans 
is  uniformly  as  follows. 

Colonel  Thomas  Taylor,  with  a  small  party  of  select  horsemen,  had  been 
ordered  to  approach  the  front  of  the  enemy  to  reconnoitre  and  obtain  intelli- 


Marshali.  t  Tarleton's  Campaign,  p.  201. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  621 

gence.  Having  made  prisoners  of  a  few  unarmed  men  and  boys  driving  car-  CHAP. 
riages,  and  supposed  to  have  passed  through  the  enemy's  camp,  or  to  be  able  -^^-^ 
otherwise  to  give  intelligence,  he  had  loaded  them  with  provisions  and  was 
proceeding  with  them  to  rejoin  Sumpter,  when  he  found  himself  pursued  by  a 
party  of  dragoons.  •  His  party  easily  escaped  by  the  flcetness  of  their  horses, 
but  the  prisoners  were  necessarily  left  behind;  and  as  the  British  dragoons 
passed  these  unhappy  wretches  in  pursuit  of  Taylor,  they  amused  themselves 
with  hewing  them  down  from  their  horses.  This  was  the  rear-guard  that  was 
cut  to  pieces.  As  to  the  fifty  prisoners,  the  high-minded  colonel  had  read  of 
the  triumphs  of  a  Roman  emperor  over  the  ocean,  and  gathered  on  his  return 
a  few  unarmed  rustics,  many  of  them  loyalists,  to  grace  his  entry  into  camp.* 

It  would  have  been  well  had  his  retreating  steps  been  marked  only  by  the 
traces  of  idle  vanity.  But  his  rage  and  disappointment  was  not  extinguished 
by  the  humanity  shown  to  his  wounded;  he  appeased  it  by  the  sacrifice  of  a 
respectable  whig  of  the  name  of  Johnston,  whose  only  crime  was  his  fidelity 
to  his  country,  and  whose  large  family  of  young  children  survived  to  execrate 
the  hand  that  made  them  orphans. 

Sumpter's  wound  was  very  severe,  (a  ball  through  the  right  breast  near  the 
shoulder,)  and  detained  him  a  length  of  time  from  service.  Suspended  be 
tween  horses  and  guarded  by  a  hundred  faithful  followers,  he  was  conveyed 
to  North  Carolina;  whilst  Twiggs  and  Clarke,  with  their  persevering  Georgi 
ans,  moved  along  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  to  annoy  the  enemy  in  another 
quarter.  The  rest  of  Sumpter's  force  separating  in  small  parties,  retired  to 
places  of  security,  ready  to  re-assemble  whenever  their  country's  service  re 
quired  it 


Taylor,  M'Call,  and  others-. 


322  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


General  Greene  proceeds  to  the  south.  Efforts  to  provide  for  the  southern  depart 
ment.  Arrangements  in  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina. 
Takes  command  of  the  army  at  Charlotte.  Moves  to  Hicks*  Creek  on  the  Pee 
Dee.  Morgan  detached  across  Broad  River.  Camp  of  repose.  Reinforcements 
arrive.  Attempt  on  Georgetown.  Descent  into  the  interior  contemplated. 
Morgans  movement^.  Battle  of  the  Cowpens.  Retreat  across  the  Catawba. 
Greene  joins  Morgan  in  person. 


•CHAP.  XX  Was  a  highly  gratifying  circumstance  to  General  Greene,  and  no  unfa- 
.^^-v^w  vourable  augury  of  his  future  fortune,  that  the  first  annunciation  of  his  appoint 
ment  to  the  southern  department  was  followed  by  earnest  solicitations  from 
some  of  the  most  gallant  spirits  in  the  service,  to  be  enrolled  under  his  ban 
ners.     Colonel  John  Laurens,(l)  Colonel  Christopher  Greene,(2)  Dr.  M'Hen- 


(1)  Colonel  JOHN  LAURENS,  the  son  of  Colonel  Henry  Laurens,  the  second  president  of  the 
-continental  congress,  who  was  at  this  time  a  prisoner  in  the  tower  of  London.  He  was  literally  the 
-chevalier  sans  tache  ct  sanspeur.  His  intemperate  bravery  was  the  only  fault  ever  attributed  to  him. 
The  following  anecdote  of  him  has  not,  we  believe,  ever  been  minutely  related.  When,  at  the  battle 
cf  Germantown,  the  American  column  on  the  right  became  embarrassed  by  the  party  who  occupied 
Chew's  house,  Laurens  requested  of  Wayne  forty  volunteers  to  join  him  in  the  attempt  to  force  the 
door  or  windows.  The  request  was  readily  complied  with,  and  such  was  his  chivalrous  character  in 
Ihe  army,  that  volunteers  promptly  offered  to  accompany  him.  They  moved  on  as  briskly  as  possi 
ble  up  to  the  house,  and  Laurens  gave  his  horse  to  a  serjeant-major,  who,  in  emulation  of  his  bravery, 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREECE. 

ty,(3)  then-  an  aid  to  General  Washington,  Major  Lee,(4)  and  finally,  the   CHAP. 
Marquis  La  Fayette,(5)  all  pressed  to  share  his  fortunes.     Their  affectionate  v^-v- 
letters  addressed  to  him  on  this  occasion,  are  still  extant. 


had  kept  pace  with  him.  An  officer,  at  this  time,  was  holding  the  door  ajar,  that  his  men  might  use 
their  muskets  through  the  opening.  Laurens'made  at  him  with  his  small-sword,  and  they  actually 
exchanged,  several  passes  before  the  door  was  shut  by  some  person  of  mon*  discretion  than  the  officer 
opposed  to  Laurens.  Turning  round,  he  then  perceived  that  not  a  man  'of  his  command  was  on  his 
legs,  and  at  that  instant,  a  musket  fired  perpendicularly  down  from  a  window,  put  an  end  to  the  bravr 
man  who  held  his  horse.  Nothing  but  his  own  very  near  approach  to  the  house  had  hitherto  saved 
him  from  the  same  fate.  He  then  mounted  his  horse  arid  gallopped  briskly  off;  but  not  so  as  t<» 
escape  altogether;  for  a  ball  glancing  on  his  back,  inflicted  on  him  a  severe  contusion  under  which  ho 
suffered  greatly,  rather  than  complain  of  a  wound  not  very  flattering  to  his  soldierly  pride.  Nor  di>l 
he  retire  from  the  field  until  he  received  another  ball  more  honourably  placed  in  the  front  of  the 
shoulder. 

Having  been  captured  in  Charleston,  he  was  a  prisoner  on  parole  when  General  Greene  was  ap 
pointed  to  the  southern  department ;  but  at  the  general's  solicitation,  General  Washington  got  him 
exchanged.  It  was  long  after  this  period,  however,  before  he  joined  the  southern  army.  When  he 
reached  Philadelphia,  on  his  way  south,  he  was  arrested  by  an  order  from  congfess,  to  repair  to 
France,  attended  by  the  celebrated  Thomas  Payne,  to  solicit"  supplies  abroad.  For  such  an  under 
taking  his  elegant  acquirements  and  frank,  engaging  character,  eminently  qualified  him.  On  his 
return  from  Europe,  he  immediately  hastened  to  the  southern  army, — led  by  destiny. 

His  letters  abound  in  the  warmest  expressions  of  personal  attachment  to  General  Greene,  and 

exhibit  in  every  line  the  scholar,  the  gentleman,  and  the  soldier. 

• 

(2)  Colonel  CHRISTOPHER  GREENE,  the  hero  of  Red  Bank.  He  was  a  near  relation  and  infi- 
mate  friend  of  General  Greene,  and  a  brave  and  amiable  man.  They  served  their  noviciate  together 
in  the  Kentish  Guards;  and  when  the  Khocle  Island  contingent  was  formed,  he  was  made  a  major 
under  General  Greene.  When  Arnold  was  permitted  to  embody  the  celebrated  command  of  volun 
teers,  who  penetrated  through  the  deserts  of  New  Brunswick  to  Quebec,  Major  Greene  led  off  Ji 
number  of  volunteers  from  the  corps  that  he  commanded,  and  was  one  of  those  who,  in  the  attempt 
to  storm  that  place,  penetrated  into  the  town  and  were  made  prisoners.  He  never  reached  tin- 
southern  army.  Whilst  just  ready  and  prepared  to  move  southwardly,  he  lost  his  life,  under  some 
very  melancholy  circumstuncs. 

He  had  been  ordered  by  General  Washington  with  a  detachment,  to  take  post  beyond  the  Croton 
River,  in  the  state  of  New  York,  to  check  the  incursion  of  hostile  parties  into  the  country  bcvond 
that  river.  While  there,  he  one  evening  visited  Major  Flags,  who  commanded  one  of  his  outposts, 
and  took  a  bed  at  his  quarters.  In  the  night,  a  party  of  the  enemy  suddenly  fell  upon  Flairg,  ami 
forcing  the  post,  rushed  into  the  house  where  Flagg  and  Greene  were  lying  in  the  same  chamber.  As 
neither  of  them  lived  to  explain  the  circumstances,  nothing  more  is  known  than  what  was  afterwards 
tisible  to  the  eye.  Several  of  the  enemy  lay  dead  in  the  chamber-door,  about  the  body  of  Flagg, 
and  poor  Greene  was  actually  cut  to  pieces.  In  that  condition,  bleeding  and  expiring,  the  man  whose 
-humanity  to  Donop  and  his  soldiers,  called  forth  public  acknowledgment*,  was  thrown  acr-^s  a  Imr^ 


624  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


CJUP.       The  head  quarters  of  the  northern  army  were,  at  this  time,  at  the  Falls  of 
^  Pasaic,  and  it  became  necessary  for  Greene  to  repair  to  that  place  for  the  pur 
pose  of  a  personal  conference  with  .General   Washington.     The  interview 


and  hurried  on  some  miles,  until  death  released  him  from  his  sufferings,  when  he  was  thrown  care 
lessly  off,  an  object  for  common  charity,  by  the  road-side. 

This  was  attributed  to  the  tender-mercies  of  the  New  York  loyalists. 

(J)  Neither  did  Dr.  M;HENRY  ever  reach  the  southern  army.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  parti 
cular  favourite  with  General  Greene. 

As  passing  from  the  family  of  the  commander  in  chief  into  that  of  Georral  (5reene  would  have 
lowered  his  rank,  General  Greene  solicited  of  congress  a  majors  commission  for  M'Henry,  and  the 
application  was  backed  by  the  commander  in  chief,  although  generally,  they  were  both  very  much 
opposed  to  promotions  out  of  the  line.  The  request  was  at  present  refused ;  but  afterwards,  in  the 
month  of  May,  it  was  complied  with.  Then,  however,  General  Washington  having  very  great 
designs  hi  contemplation,  could  not  immediately  spare  him;  and  the  siege  of  Yorktown  afterwards 
following,  M'Henry  was  still  detained. 

During  that  expedition  it  will  be  recollected  Colonel  Hamilton,  from  some  unfortunate  misunder 
standing  with  the  general,  left  his  family,  and  M'Henry  could  not  be  spared  at  all. 

Tliis  was  the  gentleman  who  was  afterwards  secretary  at  war.  He  was  zealously  friendly  to 
General  Greene  in  promoting  his  interests  in  Maryland,  during  the  southern  campaigns  j  and  main- 
,  tained  a  regular  and  useful  correspondence  with  him. 

(4)  The  celebrated  partisan  Colonel  LEE, — afterwards  governor  of  Virginia, — the  author  of  die 
memoirs  of  the  southern  war.     Known  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life  as  General  Lee.     After  passing 
through  more  vicissitudesjn  life  than  generally  fall  to  the  lot  of  man,  he  closed  his  days  in  the  man 
sion-house  of  General  Greene's  family,  on  Cumberland  Island, — where  he  was  thrown  by  accident  j 
and  where  the  friendly  hand  of  the  gcnciiiPs  jroun^csi  daughter  solaced  his  last  moments,  and  bestowed 
the  last  cares  of  humanity  upon  the  remains  of  one  who  shared  largely  in  the  affections  of  the  father. 

(5)  Neither  did  the  Marquis  LA  FATETTE  ever  reach  the  southern  army.     After  obtaining  leave 
from  the  commander  in  chief,  he  had  proceeded  as  far  as  Philadelphia  on  his  way  south,  when  he  was 
called  to  the  r.^gociations  then  gomg  on  with  the  French  minister,  to  forward  the  concerted  co-opera 
tion  of  the  I  reiich  forces  in  the  West  Indies,  which  finally  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Lord  Corn- 
wallis.     Aittr  terminating  this  important  affair,  he  immediately  resumed  his  journey,  and  had  ad 
vance  J  as  far  as  Petersburg,  on  his  way  to  join  the  army,  when  he  was  recalled  to  take  command  of 
the  combined  expedition  against  Arnold  when  in  Portsmouth.     From  that  time  until  the  capture  of 
Cornwallis,  he  acted  under  the  command  of  Greene,  and  we  shall  have  occasion  to  dilate  upon  his 
occupations  in  Virginia.     Immediately  after  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  the  interests  of  the  United 
Slates  drew  him  to  Europe,  to  promote  the  negotiations  tlien  pending  both  for  supplies  and  peace. 
In  the  year  178-4,  he  took  another  voyage  to  America,  to  which  his  attachments,  as  well  private  as 
public,  were  strongly  drawn. 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter,  written  at  this  time,  will  show  what  proportion  of  his  regard  was 
bestowed  on  the  subject  of  these  pages. 


IX. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  325 

which  took  place  is  said  to  have  been  attended  with  some  painful  sensations  CHAP. 
on  both  sides.     From  die  first  day  of  General  Washington's  command,  with , 
the  exception  of  a  few  weeks,  he  had  never  been  separated  from  General 


-  .*.  •  «  LigJit  Camp,  Nov.  10,  1780. 

*  MY  DEAR  FRIEND, 

"  As  soon  as  your  letter  from  head  quarters  came  to  hand,  I  hastened  to  make  an  answer  to  the 
several  articles  it  contained,  and  was  greatly  disappointed  to  hear  you  were  gone  before  it  could  reach 
you.  For  my  friends,  my  dear  sir,  I  have  no  different  feelings  from  those  which  I  experience  for  my 
self.  I  therefore  feel  for  you  as  I  would  on  my  own  account,  were  I  appointed  to  command  the  south 
ern  army.  You  will,  I  confess,  have  great  difficulties  to  struggle  with  j  the  worst  of  th'em  all  will,  I 
fear,  be  the  article  of  provisions.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  defeats  are  expected  from  that  quavt/r.  It 
was  yet  more  die  case  before  Ferguson's  affair.  Could  it  have  been  properly  agreeable  for  the  public 
welfare,  I  wish  this  affair  had  been  postponed.  Indeed,  my  friend,  if  I  feel  for  you  on  account  of  the 
obstacles  which  you  will  have  to  encounter,  I,  on  die  other  hand,  cannot  help  foreseeing  a  great  deal 
of  personal  glory  which  you  are  entitled  to  hope.  But  whatever  might  be  hereafter  the  case ;  what 
ever  bad  chances  (and  in  our  profession  chance  is  something,)  a  malignant  fortune  might  throw  in 
jour  way,  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  my  friendship,  as  well  as  my  esteem  for  you,  are  founded  upon 
such  a  basis  as  cannot  be  shaken  by  any  run  of  good  or  ill  luck,  which  may  subject  you  to  the  praise 
or  die  blame  of  common  opinions.  In  all  cases  I  am  heartily  willing  to  have  my  fate  united  to  yours, 
and  by  this  junction  of  stars  to  have  my  litde  share  in  any  thing  good  or  bad  that  may  happen  to  the 
troops  under  your  command. 

As  soon  as  we  enter  into  winter  quarters,  I  shall  the  more  freely  ask  the  general  leave  to  join  you, 
as  by  diat  time  letters  from  France  will  have  convinced  us  that  my  presence  at  head  quarters  is  not, 
for  some  months,  useful  to  his  purposes  of  co-operation.  By  the  1st  of  January  at  farthest,  and  sooner 
I  hope,  I  intend  to  be  with  you,  and  to  consecrate  to  the  country  I  early  loved,  under  a  general  I  have 
long  marked  out  as  my  friend,  the  efforts  of  my  zeal,  and  of  any  thing  by  nature  or  acquisition  I  may 
be  worth  in  die  military  profession.  [V»"e  give  the  marquis'  own  English.]  Hamilton  has  told  me 
that  you  have  conversed  with  him  on  the  manner  of  being  employed  that  you  thought  most  agreeable 
to  me.  Though  by  my  temper  and  principles  I  am  bound  to  accept  of  any  thing,  and  cheerfully  to 
act  upon  any  scale  that  a  superior  officer  thinks  fit  for  me,  I  cannot  help  acknowledging  your  kind 
ness  and  frankly  tell  you,  you  are  not  mistaken  in  believing  that  the  command  of  a  flying-camp, 
composed  of  the  horse  and  light-infantry  of  your  army,  will  better  please  me  than  the  honourable,  but 
less  active  command  of  a  wing.  As  I  am  sure  diat  my  friend  Lee  will  apply  for  being  attached  to 
me,  I  beg  leave  to  support  the  motion  of  d»at  officer,  whom  I  love,  and  in  whom  I  greatly  confide, 
both  for  counsel  and  execution. 

"  In  case  die  dispositions  of  the  enemy  make  you  wish  that  I  should  repair  to  such  or  such  [any 
particular]  place,  I  will,  on  the  least  hint  from  you,  ask  leave  from  the  general  to  fly  there  with  the 
greatest  dispatch,"  <Jcc. 

"  P.  S.  I  have  not  yet  settled  widi  die  general  about  leaving  him  this  winter,  so  diat  I  beg  this  to 
be  confidential." 

While  die  marquis  remained  in  America  on  his  last  vish,  he  spent  a  portion  of  his  time  with  Gen- 
oral  Greene  at  Rhode  Island;  and  on  his  return  to  France  took  with  him  the  general's  eldest  son 


326  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Greene ;  and  to  the  habit  of  consulting  him  on  every  occasion,  had  succeeded 
vx-v^,  a  great  personal  attachment.  Colonel  Hamilton,  who  was  then  in  General 
Washington's  family,  has  often  dwelt  upon  the  uneasiness  expressed  by  Gene 
ral  Washington  at  relinquishing  the  society,  services,  and  counsels  of  Greene. 
But  the  sacrifice  was  due  to  his  talents,  services,  and  rank,  and  even  to  the 
claims  of  that  friendship  which  would  have  detained  him.  The  most  painful 
circumstance,  however,  to  General  Washington  was,  the  paucity  of  his  means 
to  place  the  southern  army  in  a  situation,  which  could  promise  even  justice  to 
the  talents  of  his  favourite  commander,  or  vindicate  his  own  selection.  It  was 
the  affectionate  parent,  dismissing  a  favourite  son  from  the  paternal  domicil  to 
seek  his  fortune,  upon  nothing  but  a  parental  blessing.  Yet  he  did  not  dismiss 
him  '^wholly  unendowed ;  for,  Major  Lee  and  his  legion  were  ordered  to 
follow  him ;  and  the  zeal,  experience,  and  talents  of  Steuben,  added  to  the 
gift  It  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel,  how  invaluable  were  these  acquisitions  to 
the  southern  army. 

•  Nor  was  there  any  opposition  made  to  the  humble  petition  to  have  Laurens, 
Greene,  and  M'Henry  spared  to  his  necessities.  The  standing  and  high  claims 
of  the  marquis  of  course  obviated  all  difficulties  on  his  account,  and  the  only 
subject  discussed  was,  how  to  employ  him  in  a*  manner  most  flattering  and 
grateful  to  himself. 

The  following  is  the  order  under  which  Greene  assumed  the  command  of 
the  southern  army.  As  it  relates  to  General  Gates,  the  reader  will  perceive 
and  readily  account  for  the  extreme  caution  of  its  provisions. 

"  To  Major  General  Greene. 

** 

"  Congress  having  been  pleased,  by  their  resolution  of  the  5th  instant,  to 
authorize  me  to  appoint  an  officer  to  the  command  of  the  southern  army,  in 
the  room  of  Major  General  Gates,  till  an  inquiry  can  be  had  into  his  conduct 
as  therein  directed,  I  have  thought  proper  to  choose  you  for  this  purpose. 


George  Washington,  who  appears  to  have  been  equally  an  object  of  interest  to  both  the  great  man 
whose  name  he  bore,  and  to  the  marquis,  who  formed  with  them  a  virtuous  and  illustrious  trio  in 
mutual  attachment. 

'  As  he  acted  under  the  command  of  General  Greene  whilst  operating  in  Virginia,  we  are  in  posses 
sion  of  his  official  as  well  as  private  correspondence,  and  his  letters  exhibit  a  dignified,  amiable,  and1 
virtuous  character. 

Happy  had  it  been  for  France  could  the  benevolence,  moderation,  and  pood  sense  th.py  exhibit, 
have  directed  the  early  movements  of  their  late  revolution! 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  327 

"  You  will,  therefore,  proceed  without  delay  to  the  southern  army  now  in  CHAP. 
North  Carolina,  and  take  command  accordingly.  Uninformed  as.  I  am  of  the  v^-v-^ 
enemy's  force  in  that  quarter,  of  our  own,  or  of  the  resources  which  it  will  be 
in  our  power  to  command  for  carrying  on  the  war,  I  can  give  you  no  positive 
instructions;  but  must  leave  you  to  govern  yourself  entirely  according  to  your 
own  prudence  and  judgment,  and  the  circumstances  in  which  you  find  your 
self.  I  am  aware  that  the  nature  of  the  command  will  ofter  you  embarrass 
ments  of  a  singular  and  complicated  nature ;  but  I  rely  upon  your  known 
abilities  and  exertions  for  every  thing  your  means  will  enable  you  to  effect.  I 
give  you  a  letter  to  the  honourable  the  congress  informing  them  of  your  ap 
pointment,  and  requesting  them  to  give  you  such  powers  and  such  support  as 
your  situation  and  the  good  of  the  service  demand.  You  will  take  their  orders 
in  your  way  to  the  southward. 

"  I  also  propose  to  them  to  send  the  Baron  Steuben  to  the  southward  with 
you.  His  talents,  knowledge  of  service,  zeal  and  activity,  will  make  him  useful 
to  you  in  all  respects,  and  particularly  in  the  formation  and  regulation  of  the  raw 
troops  which  will  compose  the  southern  army.  You  will  give  him  a  command 
suitable  to  his  rank,  besides  employing  him  as  inspector-general.  If  the  con 
gress  approve,  he  will  take  your  orders  from  Philadelphia. 

"  I  have  put  Major  Lee's  corps  under  marching  orders,  and  as  soon  as  he  is 
ready,  will  detach  him  to  join  you. 

"  As  it  is  necessary  the  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  Major  General  Gates 
should  be  conducted  in  the  quarter  in  which  he  has  acted,  where  all  the  wit 
nesses  are,  and  where  alone  the  requisite  information  can  be  obtained,  I  am 
desirous,  as  soon  as  the  situation  of  affairs  will  possibly  admit,  you  will  nomi 
nate  a  court  of  inquiry  to  examine  into  his  case,  agreeably  to  the  fore-men 
tioned  resolve  of  congress.  Major  General  the  Baron  de  Steuben  will  preside 
at  this  court;  and  the  members  will  consist  of  such  general  and  field-officers  of 
the  continental  troops  as  were  not  present  at  the  battle  of  Camden ;  or  being 
present,  are  not  wanted  as  witnesses,  or  are  persons  to  whom  Major  General 
Gates  has  no  objection.  I  wish  this  affair  to  be  conducted  with  the  greatest 
impartiality,  and  with  as  much  dispatch  as  circumstances  will  permit.  You 
will  on  your  arrival  at  the  army,  take  the  sense  in  writing  of  the  principal 
officers  concerning  the  practicability  of  an  immediate  inquiry.  If  they  judge 
it  practicable  on  the  principles  of  these  instructions,  you  will  have  it  carried 
into  execution.  If  they  think  it  cannot  take  place  immediately,  you  will  inform 
Major  General  Gates  of  it,  and  transmit  me  their  determination;  and  you 
will,  from  time  to  time,  pursue  the  same  mode,  that  any  delay  which  may  hap 
pen  may  appear,  as  I  am  persuaded  it  really  will  be,  unavoidable.  The  court 


328  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  need  not  consist  of  more  than  five,  nor  must  it  consist  of  less  than  three  mem- 

IX. 

v^r-v-x^  bers ;  in  all  cases  there  must  be  three  general  officers.  You  will  keep  me 
advised,  S^c.  My  warmest  wishes,  &c. 

"  Given,  &c.  22c?  October  1780. 

"  P.  S.  Should  General  Gates  have  any  objection  to  this  mode  of  inquiry, 
which  he  wishes  to  make  to  congress  or  to  me,  you  will  suspend  proceeding  hi 
the  affair  till  he  transmits  his  objections  and  you  receive  further  orders." 

The  first  object  of  General  Greene,  on  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  was  to 
inform  himself  accurately  of  the  force  and  condition  of  the  southern  army, 
the  next,  to  make  provision  for  supplying  its  present  and  future  wants.  Free 
access  to  the  correspondence  of  the  southern  department  put  him  at  once  in 
possession  of  the  one  object;  but  every  diiug  conspired  to  multiply  the  difficul 
ties  before  him  in  effecting  die  other. 

From  General  Gates'  letters  he  gathered,  that  the  southern  army  was,  as  he 
expresses  himself  to  General  Knox,  "  rather  a  shadow  than  a  substance,  having 
only  -an  imaginary  existence."  Artillery,  baggage,  stores,  every  thing  had 
gone  by  die  board  on  the  fatal  day  of  the  recent  defeat,  and  it  now  became 
indispensable  to  obtain  a  new  supply  of  almost  every  article  diat  an  army 
could  want.  It  is  of  importance  to  the  reputation  of  General  Greene  to  know, 
that  the  subsequent  sufferings  of  his  troops  for  the  want  of  many,  if  not  every 
article,  are  in  no  wise  chargeable  upon  die  inattention  of  their  commander. 

To  every  department  connected  writh  the  army,  whilst  in  Philadelphia  he 
addressed  the  most  earnest  remonstrances  on  die  destitute  state  of  his  com 
mand,  and  every  motive  that  could  be  urged,  as  well  as  every  engine  that 
could  be  set  in  motion,  were  brought  up  to  his  aid  in  assisting  to  obtain  the 
necessary  supplies.  And  when  the  depressed  credit  and  empty  coffers  of  con 
gress  dissipated  every  hope  of  present  relief,  he  had  recourse  to  a  voluntary 
contribution  or  loan  among  the  merchants,  as  a  dernier  resort  to  obtain  clothing 
for  die  troops  whom  he  believed  to  be  naked.  Tliis  also  failed,  and  he  would 
have  wanted  even  arms,  or  waggons  to  carry  them,  had  not  private  friendship 
afforded  him  that  assistance  which  the  United  States  were  incapable  of  contri 
buting.  General  Read,  then  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  supplied  him  with 
arms  for  present  use  from  the  depot  of  the  state,  and  even  the  waggons  to 
transport  them  were  principally  obtained  from  his  kindness.  In  return  Gover 
nor  Read  relied  on  the  armories  of  the  United  States  and  the  pledge  of  Gene 
ral  Washington  for  his  indemnity. 

All  the  support  that  General  Greene  actually  received  from  the  United  States 
was,  annexing  Delaware  and  Maryland  to  his  department,  and  furnishing  lura 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

with  money  to  bear  his  expenses  on  the  journey.    Perhaps  we  ought  to  add,   CHXP. 
gratifying  him  in  a  request  that  Major  Lee  be  promoted  to  a  colonelcy,  a  re-  ^^^ 
quest  which  was  also  made  in  favour  of  Dr.  M'Henry,  but  for  the  present 
refused. 

Liberal  promises,  however,  were  made  by  the  several  departments;  and 
that  these  promises  might  not  be  forgotten,  or  the  performance  unnecessarily 
delayed,  General  Greene  did  not  leave  Philadelphia  without  placing  at  their 
elbow,  Colonel  Febiger,  an  officer  on  whom  he  could  rely,  and  to  whom  he 
gave  it  particularly  in  charge  never  to  let  the  memory  of  men  in  office  flag  for 
want  of  a  little  modest  importunity. 

By  a  resolve  of  congress  passed  when  General  Gates  took  the  command  of 
the  southern  department,  power  wras  vested  in  him  to  draw  from  the  states 
within  his  department,  the  contingent  of  men  and  money  which  they  were 
bound  to  contribute  to  the  common  cause;  to  call  on  them  when  necessary, 
for  reinforcements  of  militia,  and  to  impress  for  the  subsistence  of  his  troops, 
whenever  unavoidable  necessity  should  require  it.  The  same  powers  were 
now  transferred  to  Greene,  and  his  journey  from  Philadelphia  to  Charlotte, 
was  one  continued  effort  to  avail  himself  of  these  powers  for  the  purposes  of 
recruiting  and  supplying  his  troops. 

On  the  iB&^of  November,  accompanied  by  Baron  Steuben,  and  his  two 
aids,  Major  Burnet  and  Colonel  Morris,  he  commenced  his  journey  to  the 
south..  This  journey  was  interrupted  only  by  a  short  halt  at  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment  of  each  state,  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the  resources  of  each, 
and  the  measures  adopted  for  applying  them  to  the  suppcrt  of  the  army;  of 
making  his  requisitions  upon  them,  and  awakening  them  to  the  nccesssity  of  a 
prompt  and  early  compliance.  His  letters  addressed  to  the  executive  of  the 
states  respectively,  exhibit  some  thing  more  than  strong  good  sense;  thev  arc 
marked  by  a  judicious  application  of  his  topic  to  the  peculiar  circumstances 
of  each  state. 

Thus  to  Governor  Rodney  of  Delaware  he  says,  "  Enclosed  is  a  requisition 
which  I  have  to  make  upon  the  legislature  of  Delaware;  I  must  beg  their*  . 
earliest  attention  to  the  subject,  as  the  situation  of  the  southern  army  presses 
hard  for  the  most  speedy  reinforcements  of  men,  and  supplies  of  every  kind. 
General  Gist  of  this  state,  will  wait  upon  your  excellency  in  a  few  days,  and 
fix  upon  proper  places  of  rendezvous  for  collecting  and  inspecting  the  recruits. 
I  persuade  myself  that  your  legislature  will  be  fully  impressed  with  the  neces 
sity  of  putting  the  southern  army  in  a  condition  to  stop  the  progress  of  the 
cnen.y ;  otherwise  these  states,  which  now  appear  remote  from  danger,  will 
soon  become  the  seat  of  war.  Besides,  it  will  not  be  Ic^  inhuman  than  impn- 

42 


330  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  lit ic,  to  suffer  those  states,  now  struggling  with  the  enemy,  to  sink  under  their 
v^v^w,  oppression  for  want  of  a  reasonable  support.  Should  this  be  the  case,  I  cannot 
contemplate  our  future  miseries  without  the  deepest  distress  and  anxiety. 
Every  wise  people  will  keep  the  war  as  far  from  them  as  possible.  The  mid 
dle  states  have  no  way  of  effecting  this  but  by  giving  timely  support  to  the 
southern  operations.  It  is  in  vain  to  expect  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  enemy 
with  the  little  force  we  have  now  in  the  field;  and  it  is  of  the  highest  import 
ance  to  succour  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  states  while  the  tide  of  senti 
ment  is  in  our  favour,"  &:c. 

To  Governor  Lee  of  Maryland  he  writes,  "  The  efforts  which  the  inhabit 
ants  are  making  to  prevent  the  further  encroachments  of  the  enemy,  deserve 
the  most  speedy  and  effectual  support;  as  well  from  principles  of  humanity,  as 
of  sound  policy.  Unless  they  are  soon  succoured  and  countenanced  by  a  good 
regular  force,  their  distresses  will  inevitably  break  their  spirits,  and  they  will 
be  compelled  to  reconcile  themselves  to  their  misfortunes — than  which  nothing 
can  be  more  fatal  to  the  happiness  and  independence  of  these  states.  It  is 
much  easier  to  keep  up  an  effectual  opposition  while  the  tide  of  sentiment  is 
in  our  favour,  than  it  will  be  to  secure  the  remaining  states  from  the  enemy's 
further  encroachments,  after  those  states  are  subdued.  There  is  no  alterna 
tive  but  base  submission,  or  an  effectual  prosecution  of  the  war.^  The  horrors 
of  one,  and  the  blessings  which  will  result  from  the  other,  cannot  admit  of  a 
moment's  hesitation  on  the  choice.  But  in  vain  shall  we  contend,  unless  we 
raise,  clothe,  and  equip  a  regular  army.  The  mode  to  effect  this  is  not  for  me 
to  point  out;  bid  if  a  draught  could  be  once  accomplished^  I  am  persuaded  it  would 
damp  the  hopes  of  the  enemy  more  than  ten  victories.  Congress,  in  order  to 
reduce  our  national  expense,  and  proportion  the  demands  of  men  upon  the 
several  states  to  the  force  of  the  enemy  and  the  present  plan  of  the  war,  have 
made  a  great  reduction  of  the  regiments.  Unless  those  required  are  filled  up 
to  the  full  establishment,  no  effectual  opposition  can  be  made.  Nor  can  I  be 
responsible  for  consequences  without  it.  Nothing  on  my  part  shall  be  want- 
ting  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  my  command  as  far  as  my  abilities  extend,  or  the 
means  put  into  my  hands  are  competent  to;  but  without  support,  I  foresee 
myself  devoted  to  ruin,  and  die  southern  states  to  subjection;  and  I  wish  that 
those  who  now  seem  at  a  distance  from  die  scene  of  operations,  may  not  rest 
in  the  shade  of  security,  until  the  ravaging  hand  of  war  begins  to  spread  deso 
lation  and  terror  within  their  own  jurisdiction.  I  flatter  myself,  as  well  from 
the  past  conduct  of  the  legislature  of  this  state,  as  from  the  assurances  of  the 
committee  of  the  two  houses  who  did  me  the  honour  of  a  conference  this 
morning,  that  they  are  actuated  by  too  just  principles,  and  have  too  clear  a 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  831 

of  their  own  situation,  to  need  arguments  to  induce  them  to  give  all  the   CHVP. 
aid  in  their  power.     Eclosed  are  requisitions,"  &c.  \^^^,< 

In  this  letter  it  \vill  be  perceived  that,  the  writer  ventures  to  urge  personal 
considerations.  Nor  were  they  ill-timed,  or  ill  applied,  when  addressed  to  the 
state  of  Maryland;  for  the  transition  was  easy  and  natural  from  his  "  ruin," 
or  disgrace,  or  danger,  to  that  of  the  many  valuable  and  well-connected  ofti- 
cers  of  die  Maryland  line,  which,  at  this  time,  constituted  two  thirds  of  the 
army  in  the  field.  To  which  we  may  add,  that  among  the  leading  men  of  that 
day  in  Maryland,  he  counted  several  intimate  and  zealous  friends. 

Conformably  to  the  system  which  General  Greene  had  adopted,  of  not  per 
mitting  the  cause  to  suffer  for  want  of  solicitation,  or  a  representative  at  hand 
to  suggest  expedients,  or  remove  difficulties,  General  Gist  wras  charged  with 
paying  the  necessary  attention  to  the  interests  of  the  southern  army  in  Mary 
land  as  \vell  as  Delaware;  and  the  attention  and  influence  of  General  Small-, 
wood  were,  a  short  time  after,  superadded.  The  following  is  a  specimen  of 
the  orders  under  which  they  acted :  "  You  will  please  to  make  all  your  applica 
tions  in  writing,  that  they  may  appear  hereafter  for  our  justification  that  we 
left  nothing  unessayed  to  promote  the  public  service.  Let  your  applications 
be  as  pressing  as  our  necessities  are  urgent.  After  which,  if  the  southern 
states  are  lost,  we  shall  stand  justified.  The  greatest  consequences  depend 
upon  your  activity  and  zeal  in  the  business."* 

In  Virginia,  the  objects  which  demanded  General  Greene's  attention  were 
various  and  peculiarly  important.  Every  thing  in  that  state  had  become 
involved  and  difficult  of  management,  from  the  pressure  of  those  great  na 
tional  evils,  want  of  money  and  want  of  credit.  A  recent  invasion  had  called 
the  whole  attention  of  the  government  to  its  own  defence,  and  the  expenses 
and  sacrifices  it  had  required,  both  discovered  and  increased  the  embarrass 
ments  of  the  state. 

General  Mathews,  in  the  year  preceding,  had  contented  himself  with  expos 
ing  the  vulnerable  condition  of  the  towns  communicating  with  the  Chesapeake, 
and  plundering  Norfolk,  Portsmouth,  and  Gosport.  Upon  the  advance  of 
Lord  Cornwallis  after  Gates'  defeat,  an  expedition  under  General  Leslie  of 
near  3,000  men,  was  fitted  out  at  New  York  with  orders  to  penetrate  into 
Virginia,  and  await  the  orders  of  Lord  Cornwallis. 

Leslie  took  possession  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth,  and  proceeded  with  all 
diligence  to  secure  the  possession  of  both  places  by  strongly  fortifying  the 
latter. 


*  To  General  Gist,  November  20, 


332  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


C?\P'       Virgin^  had  at  this  time  but  very  few  regular  troops  in  the  field.     A  Con- 

^v^s  siderable  force  in  militia  had  been  called  mto  service,  and  these,  widi  all  the 

drafts  and  recruits  then  collected  to  reinforce  the  southern  army,  were  at  this 

time  watcliing  the  movements  of  General  Leslie,  under  the  command  of  Gene 

rals  Muhlenberg  and  Weeden. 

The  important  objects  which  at  this  time  "divided  the  attention  of  General 
Greene  were  first  to  establish  that  chain  which  binds  together  every  military 
operation  —  the  quarter-master-general's  department;  secondly,  to  establish 
depots  and  laboratories  for  the  ordnance  department,  in  convenient  and  secure 
situations;  and  lastly,  to  draw  forth  assistance  from  the  state  without  exposing 
it,  and  along  with  it,  his  own  army  to  the  injuries  which  must  result  from 
incursions  of  the  enemy.  As  to  the  commissariate,  he  saw  die  impossibility  of 
making  any  present  arrangements  respecting  it,  and  resolved  to  defer  the  sub 
ject  until  he  reached  the  army. 

The  business  of  transportation  in  die  southern  department  was,  at  this  time, 
in  a  miserably  deranged  state.  It  had  been  conducted  hitherto,  principally  by 
waggons  and  teams  the  property  of  the  United  States  ;  and  where  they  proved 
inadequate  or  extraordinary  aid  became  necessary,  then  by  requisitions  on  the 
states,  and  under  the  superintendance  of  state  officers,  or  of  deputies  appointed 
by  the  quarter-master-general.  As  all  the  public  waggons,  and  most  of  their 
teams,  had  been  captured  in  Gates'  defeat,  and  the  government  had  no  money 
to  procure  others,  the  business  of  the  department  had  necessarily  been  con 
ducted  since  this  fatal  event,  upon  state  requisitions.  On  these,  he  plainly  saw 
there  could  be  no  dependance  placed.  For,  directly  after  Gates'  misfortune, 
and  prior  to  the  invasion  of  Leslie,  the  state  of  Virginia  had  been  endeavouring 
to  send  on  her  recruits  to  reinforce  the  army,  but  could  not  for  want  of  wag 
gons.  Out  of  one  hundred  ordered,  (and  impress-warrants  issued  to  collect 
them,)  in  three  weeks,  the  governor  could  collect  but  fifteen  or  eighteen.* 
Plainly  foreseeing,  therefore,  that  he  must  sustain  the  most  ruinous  disappoint 
ments  unless  some  remedy  could  be  found  for  this  evil,  General  Greene  made 
-a  strong  representation  of  it  to  congress,  and  the  states  north  of  Virginia  ;  and 
resolved  to  appoint  an  officer  who  should  combine  the  whole  means  of  trans 
portation  in  his  department,  so  that  those  of  the  north  might  supply  the  defi 
ciencies  of  the  south. 

It  happened  fortunately  for  tliis  and  several  other  purposes,  that  General 
Greene  had  an  intimate  personal  knowledge  of  all  the  officers  of  the  Virginia 


*  Gen.  Washington,  Nov.  19,  1730. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  SS3 

line;  they  had  served  under  his  immediate  command  in  several  campaigns,  CHAP. 
as  that  line  had  composed  his  division.  An  intimate  knowledge  of  their  v^v^, 
characters  ancf  talents,  as  well  as  much  mutual  confidence  and  esteem,  had 
grown  out  of  this  connexion.  By  the  reduction  of  the  Virginia  contingent  in 
number  of  men  to  each  regiment,  and  still  more  by  the  actual  reduced  state  of 
the  numbers  in  service,  many  of  their  officers  were  now  out  of  employ,  and 
among  these  was  Colonel  Edward  Carrington.  On  this  gendemari  he  fixed 
his  eye  as  eminently  qualified  to  undertake  the  task  of  combining  and  conduct 
ing  the  feeble  means  at  the  command  of  the  quarter-master-general's  depart 
ment.  Carrington  obeyed  the  call  to  the  office,  and  discharged  it  with  une 
qualled  zeal  and  fidelity. 

To  fix  on  eligible  depots  and  laboratories,  and  posts  of  rest  and  communica 
tion  in  the  southern  department,  was  a  work  of  no  small  difficulty.  In  Mary 
land  they  would  have  been  too  remote,  in  North  Carolina  too  near  the  scene 
of  action.  In  Virginia,  therefore,  it  was  necessary  to  establish  them;  and 
against  the  risk  of  invasion  there,  the  only  security  that  could  be  afforded  was 
to  establish  them  under  the  protection  of  the  populous  counties  of  the  north 
western  parts  of  that  state.  At  the  confluence  of  Rivanna  and  Fluvaima, 
called  the  Point  of  Fork,  the  principal  laboratory  was  established,  and  at 
Prince  Edward  Court-House  the  principal  depot  of  stores  and  arms.  To 
keep  these  regularly  supplied  with  powder  from  the  manufactories,  and  with 
lead  from  the  mines  in  Fincastle  county,  Virginia,  was  one  of  the  subjects 
given  specially  in  charge  to  Baron  Steuben. 

Among  other  officers  whom  General  Greene  found  out  of  employment  in 
Virginia,  were  Captain  Pendleton,  Major  Pearce,  and  Major  Forsyth.  The 
merits  of  these  gentlemen  were  personally  known  to  him,  and  he  resolved  to 
avail  himself  of  their  talents.  The  two  former  he  attached  to  his  family,  and 
to  the  last  he  offered  the  place  of  commissary  of  prisoners;  but  on  his  declin 
ing  it,  recommended  him  to  the  commissary-general,  for  the  post  of  his  deputy 
in  the  southern  department. 

Having  made  every  arragement  which  the  service  required,  and  the  actual 
state  of  things  admitted  in  Virginia,  General  Greene  vested  the  Baron  Steuben 
with  the  military  command  in  that  state,  with  particular  charge  to  collect, 
organize,  discipline,  and  expedite  the  recruits  for  the  southern  army.  He 
then,  preparatory  to  his  departure,  addressed  to  Governor  Jefferson  a  letter,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  extract :  "  The  present  state  of  the  southern  depart 
ment,  and  the  future  operations  that  must  be  carried  on  in  that  quarter,  induce 
me  to  lay  before  your  excellency  the  enclosed  requisitions  for  men  and  supplies 
of  different  kinds.  Uninformed  as  I  am  at  this  time  of  many  things  neces- 


334  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  sary  to  explain  the  extent  of  our  wants,  I  have  confined  myself  hi  this  applica- 
,tiou  to  some  principal  articles,  which  will  be  requisite  under  all  circumstances. 
But  as  die  scene  of  operations  may  change,  and  as  the  emergencies  of  war  are 
Diimerous  and  various,  from  which  new  and  pressing  demands  may  arise,  I 
hope  the  legislature  will  vest  you  with  full  and  ample  powers  to  comply  with 
such  as  may  happen.  Without  this,  I  foresee  the  most  fatal  consequences  may 
attend  die  army  for  want  of  timely  support.  It  will  be  my  province  to  inform 
you,  from  time  to  time,  of  the  men  and  supplies  necessary  to  our  operations, 
and  to  conduct  the  force  and  direct  the  use  when  sent  into  the  field.  But  the 
levying  of  one  and  collecting  of  the  other,  must  depend  upon  yourselves ;  and 
on  your  exertions  hang  the  freedom  and  independence  of  the  United  States. 

"  It  is  perfectly  consistent  with  sound  policy  in  all  cases  to  carry  on  war 
abroad  rather  than  at  home,  as  well  in  matters  of  expense,  as  in  humanity  to 
die  inhabitants.  But  this  policy  is  rendered  doubly  necessary  to  Virginia, 
from  the  ease  with  which  the  enemy  can  penetrate  the  country,  and  the  nume 
rous  blacks  and  other  valuable  property  which  must  inevitably  fall  into  an 
invading  enemy's  hands.  It  is  pretty  evident  that  it  was  the  enemy's  original 
plan  of  operations  to  penetrate  through  North  Carolina  and  possess  them 
selves  of  all  die  low  country  of  Virginia ;  and  notwithstanding  they  may  have 
sustained  a  temporary  interruption  to  their  plan,  I  make  no  doubt  they  will 
prosecute  their  design  as  soon  as  the  prevailing  obstacles  are  removed ;  unless 
they  are  convinced  by  the  exertions  of  the  southern  states  dial  the  thing  is 
become  impracticable;  nor  will  they  relinquish  the  object  from  the  feeble 
opposition  that  may  be  made  by  the  present  force  opposed  to  them. 

'*  It  affords  me  great  satisfaction  to  see  the  enterprise  and  spirit  with  which 
die  militia  have  turned  out  lately  in  all  quarters  to  oppose  the  enemy;  and  this 
great  bulwark  of  civil  liberty  promises  security  and  independence  to  the  countnj, 
if  they  are  not  depended  upon  as  a  principal,  but  employed  as  an  auxiliary.  But 
if  you  depend  upon  them  as  a  principal,  the  very  nature  of  the  war  must 
become  so  ruinous  to  the  country,  that  though  numbers  for  a  time  may  give 
security,  yet  the  difficulty  of  keeping  this  order  of  men  in  die  field,  and  die 
accumulated  expense  attending  it,  must  soon  put  it  out  of  our  power  to  make 
further  opposition ;  and  the  enemy  will  have  only  to  delay  their  operations  for 
a  few  months,  to  give  success  to  their  measures.  It  must  be  the  extreme  of 
folly  to  hazard  our  liberties  upon  so  precarious  a  dcpendance,  when  we  have 
it  so  much  in  our  power  to  fix  it  on  a  more  solid  basis.  I  hope,  therefore,  the 
most  speedy  and  effectual  measures  will  be  taken  to  fill  up  the  army  according 
to  the  new  arrangements;  and  I  have  only  to  remark,  that  the  reduction  of 
the  regiments  renders  it  absolutely  necessary  that  those  remaining  should  b»* 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  335 

completed  to  their  full  establishment.     It  is  not  only  necessary  to  furnish  the  CHAP. 
number  required,  but  that  the  men  be  of  a  proper  size,  perfect  in  their  limbs,  ^^^, 
of  a  good  sound  constitution,  and  not  exceeding  forty  years  of  age.     I  would 
wish  a  law  relative  to  this  matter  might  be  passed,  with  proper  directions  to 
the  county-lieutenants  not  to  receive  any  recruits,  unless  they  are  agreeable  to 
the  foregoing  description,  as  the  continental  officers  stationed  at  the  different 
places  of  rendezvous  will  be  instructed  to  this  purpose. 

"  Officers  are  the  very  soul  of  an  army,  and  you  may  as  well  attempt  to 
animate  a  dead  body  into  action,  as  to  expect  to  employ  an  army  to  advantage 
when  the  officers  are  not  perfectly  easy  in  their  circumstances,  and  happy  in 
the  sen  ice. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  find  that  great  dissatisfaction  prevails  among  your  officers.  I 
am  not  fully  informed  of  die  several  grievances,  but  would  beg  leave  to  recom 
mend  an  inquiry,  and  that  immediate  and  reasonable  satisfaction  be  given  to 
their  just  demands, 

"  The  late  distressing  accounts  from  the  southern  army,  claim  the  immediate 
attention  of  government  both  with  respect  to  provision  and  clothing.  It  is  im 
possible  for  men  to  continue  long  in  the  field  unless  they  are  well  furnished  with 
both  these  articles ;  and  to  expose  them  to  the  want  of  cither,  will  soon  trans 
fer  them  from  the  field  to  the  hospital,  or  lay  them  under  the  necessity  of  de 
serting.  In  either  ca«p,  government  is  burdened  with  the  expense  of  raising 
men  without  the  benefit  of  their  service.  Clothing  is  more  important  to  an 
army  than,  at  first  view,  may  be  imagined,  and  to  send  troops  into  the  field 
without  it,  is  to  devote  them  to  certain  destruction. 

"  The  business  of  transportation  is  accompanied  with  so  many  difficulties, 
that  I  think  great  pains  should  be  taken  to  fix  upon  some  plan  for  feeding  the 
army  with  live  stock ;  and  I  can  think  of  none  unless  it  be  putting  up  a  large 
quantity  of  beeves  to  stall-feed;  which  may  be  driven  to  the  army  from  time 
to  time,  as  the  service  may  require.  I  wish  that  some  person  could  be  com 
missioned  from  this  state  to  concert  with  North  Carolina  the  most  proper 
measures  for  carrying  such  a  plan  into  execution. 

"  There  are  a  variety  of  stores  of  different  kinds  coming  from  the  north 
which,  I  am  afraid  from  the  deranged  state  of  the  quarter-master-general's 
department,  will  meet  with  great  difficulty  in  getting  on.  I  most  earnestly 
recommend  that  the  most  speedy  and  effectual  support  be  given  to  the  officer 
charged  with  that  business,  that  he,  without  loss  of  time,  may  make  the  proper 
arrangements  for  forwarding  the  supplies  as  they  arrive. 

"  I  have  this  moment  received  letters  from  General  Washington  and  from 
Mr.  Mathevvs,  chairman  of  a  committee  of  congress  appointed  to  correspond 


336  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  with  the  commanding  officer  of  the  southern  department,  which  mention  the 
v.x^v^/  enemy's  preparation  making  for  another  detachment  to  the  southward.  The 
distress  and  sufferings  of  the  inhabitants  of  North  and  South  Carolina,  deserve 
the  most  speedy  support,  to  keep  alive  that  spirit  of  enterprise  which  has  pre 
vailed  among  them  lately  so  much  to  their  honour.  It  is  much  easier  to  op 
pose  the  enemy  while  the  tide  of  sentiment  sets  in  our  favour,  than  it  will  be 
to  secure  Virginia  after  they  are  overrun.— A  misfortune  which  may  prove  fatal 
to  the  happiness  and  independence  of  America ! 

u  I  purpose  to  set  out  in  the  morning  for  Hillsborough,  but  shall  leave  Major 
General  Baron  Steubcn  to  command  in  this  state  for  the  present,  and  to  put 
things  in  the  most  proper  train  for  forwarding  reinforcements  of  men,  and  sup 
plies  of  every  kind  for  the  southern  army.  He  will  advise  with  your  excel 
lency,"  &:c. 

As  acquiring  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  rivers  of  the  country  which  was 
likely  to  become  the  scene  of  active  operations,  was  a  favourite  and  interesting 
object  with  General  Greene,  the  first  service  he  required  of  Colonel  Carrington. 
was  to  explore  the  Dan,  the  Yadkin,  and  Catawba,  and  to  make  himself  tho 
roughly  acquainted  with  the  streams  into  which  they  discharged  themselves. 
Besides  the  indispensable  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  places  and  means  of 
crossing  those  streams,  either  in  pursuit  or  flight,  General  Greene  flattered 
himself  with  the  hope  that  they  would  present  facilities  for  the  transportation 
of  heavy  articles  which  would  greatly  relieve  the  quarter-master-generaPs 
department.  For  this  purpose  Colonel  Carrington  accompanied  the  general 
on  his  journey  from  Richmond,  and  entered  upon  this  undertaking.  Intelli 
gent  and  active  officers  were  employed  in  forwarding  th".  design  on  the  Dan, 
and  it  was  expeditiously  completed.  A  number  of  light  boats  also  were  built 
on  the  banks  of  that  river,  and  had  the  means  of  transportation  by  land  been 
more  abundant,  it  was  intended  that  a  number  of  these  should  always  have 
attended  the  army  on  its  marches. 

General  Stevens  of  Virginia,  at  that  time  commanding  a  detachment  of 
militia  with  the  southern  army,  undertook  and  executed  with  equal  promptness 
a  survey  of  the  Yadkin;  while  the  celebrated  Kosciusko,  who  had  attended 
General  Gates  as  engineer  to  his  army,  was  dispatched  to  perform  the  samr 
service  on  the  Catawba.  These  surveys  proved  in  the  sequel  of  no  little 
importance  in  the  progress  of  the  campaign,  as  the  general  acquired  a  tho 
rough  knowledge  of  the  depth,  course,  and  the  places  and  means  of  crossing 
these  rivers  from  sources  which  inspired  thorough  confidence. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  General  Greene  was  the  first  person  who 
explored  the  navigation  of  the  Dan,  the  Yadkin,  and  Catawba  rivers  to  any 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  &37 

extent;  and  although  the  course  of  events  did  not  lead  him  to  make  much  use   CHAP; 
of  the  navigation  of  those  streams,  these  surveys  contributed  not  a  little  to  <^~v^' 
opening  the  eyes  of  the  inhabitants  to  the  uses  which  might  one  day  be  made 
of  them  for  water-transportation.     The  magazines  which  he  established  on 
the  banks  of  the  Roanoke,  and  at  Qliphant's  Mills  on  the  head  of  the  Ca- 
tawba,  proved  of  no  small  service  in  the  future  operations  of  the  campaign. 

At  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  southern  commander  at  Hillsborough,  he 
found  that  place  abandoned  both  by  the  officers  of  the  state  and  the  army. 
The  latter,  it  has  been  seen,  had  moved  forward  to  Charlotte,  and  the  inva 
sion  of  Leslie  had  called  the  former  away  to  Halifax,  by  exciting  public  ap 
prehension  for  the  safety  of  the  south-eastern  quarter  of  the  state.  As  it  did 
not  comport  with  his  views  that  the  exertions  of  the  state  authorities  should  be 
expended  in  vain  and  unnecessary  efforts  in  that  direction,  he  informed  Gov 
ernor  Nash  from  Hillsborough,  that  he  had,  by  his  measures  in  Virginia,  pro 
vided  for  the  defence  of  that  quarter  of  the  state,  and  solicited  that  the  gover 
nor  would  turn  his  attention  to  the  more  pressing  object  of  preparing  to  meet 
Lord  Cornwallis,  on  the  opposite  quarter. 

On  the  2d  day  of  December,  General  Greene  reached  the  encampment  at 
Charlotte,  and  on  the  4th,  took  command  of  the  army.  The  delicacy  witli 
which,  on  this  occasion,  he  conducted  himself  towards  his  unfortunate  prede 
cessor,  is  pronounced  by  Colonel  Williams  to  have  been  "edifying  to  the  army.77 
Every  measure  that  could  console  his  feelings  and  preserve  respect  for  him  in 
the  minds  of  the  army,  was  cautiously  attended  to.  But  it  was  impossible  that 
a  court  of  inquiry  could,  at  that  time,  be  held  upon  his  conduct  pursuant  to 
the  order  of  congress.  It  was  not  the  absence  of  Stcuben  that  prevented  the 
holding  of  this  court,  for  that  could  have  been  obviated  by  his  presence;  but 
General  Washington's  order,  it  will  be  recollected,  requires  "  that  the  members 
of  the  court  should  consist  of  such  general  and  field  officers  of  the  continental 
troops  as  were  not  present  at  the  battle  of  Camdcn;  or  being  present,  are  not 
wanted  as  witnesses,  or  are  persons  to  whom  Major  Genera]  Gates  has  no 
objection."  To  comply  with  these  orders  under  existing  circumstances,  was 
impossible;  there  were  not  three  general  officers  to  sit  upon  it.  General 
Smallwood,  even  though  he  could  have  been  dispensed  with  as  a  witness, 
could  not  sit  upon  this  court,  for  he  is  understood  to  have  been  Gates'  princi 
pal  accuser;  and  Muglilcnbcrg  and  Weeden  could  not  be  withdrawn  from  the 
defence  of  Virginia.  The  court  could  not  have  consisted  of  field-officers 
alone,  and  General  Morgan,  recently  created  a  brigadier,  was  the  only  gene 
ral  officer  besides  Smallwood  at  that  time  with  the  army.  The  number 
of  field-officers  who  -were  not  necessary  as  witnesses,  on  the  one  side  or  tin1 

43 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,   other,  was  exceedingly  small,  consisting  altogether  of  Colonel  Bufort,  and 
f-^~*~> *nosc  ^  ho  had  joined  the  army  with  the  fragments  of  his  regiment.     Nor 
would  the  circumstances  of  the  army,  and  the  probability  of  its  being  called 
into  immediate  action,  have  sanctioned  the  delay  incident  to  such  an  investi 
gation. 

But  there  \vcre  other,  and  some  very  benevolent  motives  for  deferring  the 
investigation.  The  present  state  of  Gates'  feelings  upon  the  loss  of  an  only 
son,  disqualified  him  from  entering  upon  the  task  of  his  defence;  and  it  would 
have  been  indelicate  in  the  extreme  to  have  pressed  on  him  an  investigation 
which  his  honour  would  not  have  permitted  him  to  defer;  besides  which, 
General  Greene,  in  common  with  most  of  the  officers  whom  he  consulted,  was 
of  opinion  that  his  was  a  case  of  misfortune;  and  the  most  honourable  course 
to  be  pursued,  both  for  Gates  and  the  government,  would  be  to  make  such 
representations  as  to  obtain  a  revision  of  the  order  of  congress  which  enjoined 
the  inquiry  into  his  conduct.  A  measure  which  was  successfully  pursued. 

The  order  on  this  subject,  was  communicated  to  General  Gates  in  the  most 
delicate  manner,  immediately  after  General  Greene  assumed  the  command, 
and  Gates'  reply  solicits  an  immediate  inquiry;  when,  afterwards,  the  de 
cision  of  the  council  of  war  was  communicated  to  hiri,  he  appears  to  have 
received  it  with  regret,  but  with  perfect  acquiescence  in  its  correctness.  Cer 
tain  it  is,  that  the  state  of  mutual  coldness,  if  not  ill- will  which  previously 
existed  between  these  officers,  from  this  time  wholly  disappears;  and  several 
subsequent  letters  written  by  General  Gates  to  General  Greene,  are  all  sub 
scribed  "yours  affectionately,"  and  written  in  a  style  of  perfect  cordiality. 

The  first  hours  of  General  Greene's  taking  command  of  the  southern  army 
were  brightened  up  by  an  event  which  the  superstition  of  the  soldiery  seized 
upon  as  a  promising  omen.  This  was  the  capture  of  Rugely's  command  at 
Clermont,  made  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Washington.  The  happy  union  of 
triumph  and  mirth,  diffused  through  the  camp  by  this  fortunate  though  ludi- 
XTOUS  occurrence,  gave  the  first  day  of  vivacity  to  the  army  that  it  had  enjoyed 
since  the  late  defeat.  Every  one  knows  how  the  valorous  loyalist  laid  down 
his  arms  at  the  view  of  a  pine  log  mounted  on  waggon  wheels  in  imitation  of 
%a  field-piece.  A  respectable  number  of  prisoners,  and  a  seasonable  supply  of 
refreshments  and  munitions  of  war,  rewarded  the  ingenuity  and  enterprise  of 
the  victor. 

The  narrative  of  Colonel  Williams  affords  a  tolerable  perspective  of  the 
condition  in  which  General  Greene  found  the  southern  army;  the  sectional 
views  of  it  are  to  be  fully  obtained  from  the  correspondence  of  the  day,  both 
of  General  Gates  and  General  Greene.  The  tattered  remnants  of  their  uni- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE'.  33 

forms  drawn  over  the  small  supply  of  clothes  wliich  the  public  spirit  of  North   CHAP. 
Carolina  had  afforded  them,  presented  rather  an  uncouth  appearance  to  the  v^-v- 
eye  of  the  beholder.     Nor  was  the  appearance  of  the  recruits  that  had  joined 
them  since  the  distribution  of  clothing  took  place,  a  whit  better;  they  wero 
wholly  destitute.     The  whole  number  of  regulars  of  all  arms  in  camp,  did  not 
exceed  eleven  hundred,  and  of  these,  not  eight  hundred  could  be  mustered  with 
arms  and  clothing  fit  for  duty.     Such  was  the  naked  condition  of  some  of  Col. 
Washington's  cavalry,  (who  being  absent,  seem  to  have  been  shared  out  in 
the   distribution,)  that  they  were  ordered   back  to  Virginia,  upon   Colonel 
Washington's  representing  that  they  were  too  naked  to  be  put  upon  service. 

Two  days  after  General  Greene  took  command  of  the  army,  he  addressed 
a  letter  to  Governor  Jefferson  on  this  subject,  of  which  we  will  copy  an  extract, 
as  it  furnishes  the  most  authentic  view  of  the  state  of  his  troops.  "  I  arrived 
at  this  place  on  the  2d  instant,  to  which  General  Gates  had  advanced  with 
the  army  some  days  before  I  overtook  him.  I  find  the  troops  under  his  com 
mand  in  a  most  wretched  condition — destitute  of  every  thing  necessary  either 
for  the  comfort  or  convenience  of  soldiers.  It  is  impossible  that  men  can 
render  any  service,  however  well  disposed,  while  they  are  perishing  with  cold 
and  hunger.  Your  troops  may  literally  be  said  to  be  naked,  and  I  shall  be 
obliged  to  send  a  considerable  number  of  them  away,  into  some  secure  place 
and  warm  quarters,  until  they  can  be  furnished  with  clothing.  It  will  answer 
no  good  purpose  to  send  men  here  in  such  a  condition,  for  they  are  nothing 
but  a  dead-weight  upon  the  army,  and  altogether  incapable  of  aiding  in  its 
operations.  There  must  be  either  pride  or  principle  to  make  a  soldier.  No 
man  will  think  himself  bound  to  fi^ht  the  battles  of  a  state  that  leaves  him  to 

O 

perish  for  want  of  covering;  nor  can  you  inspire  a  soldier  with  the  sentiment 
of  pride,  while  his  situation  renders  him  more  an  object  of  pity  than  of  envy. 
The  life  of  a  soldier  in  the  best  state,  is  liable  to  innumerable  hardships;  bin 
when  these  are  aggravated  by  the  want  of  provision  and  clothing,  his  condition 
becomes  intolerable;  ner  can  men  long  contend  with  such  complicated  diffi 
culties  and  distress.  Death,  desertion,  and  the  hospital  must  soon  swallow  up 
an  army,  under  such  circumstances,  ar.d  were  it  possible  for  men  to  maintain 
such  a  wretched  existence,  they  would  have  no  spirit  to  face  their  enemies, 
and  would  inevitably  disgrace  themselves  and  their  commander. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  preserve  discipline  when  troops  are  in  want  of  every 
thing; — to  attempt  severity,  will  only  thin  the  ranks  by  a  more  hasty  deser 
tion.  The  article  of  clothing  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  expense  in  raising, 
equipping,  and  subsisting  an  army,  and  yet  on  this  alone  the  whole  benefit  of 
their  service  depends.  I  wish  the  state  to  view  this  matter  in  its  true  point  of 


SIO  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  fight.  Some  may  think  it  is  urged  for  the  sake  of  military  parade,  but  lx> 
^-v^^  assured  you  raise  men  in  vain,  unless  you  clothe,  arm,  and  equip  them  pro 
perly  for  the  field.  I  should  not  dwell  upon  the  subject,  did  I  not  foresee  the 
misfortunes  that  must  follow  the  neglect  of  it.  The  states  may  seem  to  derive 
credit  from  having  numbers  in  the  field,  however  wretched  their  condition. 
but  a  general  with  such  troops  can  give  no  protection  to  the  country.  Tin* 
policy  may  serve  to  disgrace  an  officer,  but  never  can  promote  the  public  inte 
rests. 

"  I  see  by  the  Charleston  papers,  a  large  reinforcement  is  coming  from  New 
York,  and  part  already  arrived.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  will  push  his  operations  this  winter  to  the  utmost.  Exertions  on  the 
part  of  die  states  are  necessary  to  counteract  him.  I  hope  your  excellency 
therefore,  will  press  the  assembly  to  give  the  most  speedy  and  effectual  support 
to  this  army.  We  have  no  magazines  of  provisions  in  the  state,  but  depend 
upon  daily  collections  for  support;  and  this  state  has  been  so  ravaged  by  the 
numerous  militia  that  have  been  in  the  field,  that  it  is  a  doubt  with  me  whe 
ther,  with  the  greatest  industry  and  the  best  dispositions,  any  considerable 
magazines  can  be  formed." 

In  General  Greene's  private  and  confidential  correspondence,  his  represen 
tations  of  the  distressed  state  of  the  army  are  still  more  strongly  coloured.  To 
the  Marquis  La  Fayette  he  writes,*  "  It  is  now  within  a  few  days  of  the  time 
you  mentioned  of  being  with  me.  Were  you  to  arrive,  you  would  find  a  few 
ragged,  half-starved  troops  in  the  wilderness,  destitute  of  every  thing  necessary 
for  either  the  comfort  or  convenience  of  soldiers."  "  Indeed,  my  dear  sir,  the 
department  is  in  a  most  deplorable  condition,  nor  have  I  a  prospect  of  its 
mending.  The  country  is  almost  laid  waste,  and  the  inhabitants  plunder  one 
another  with  little  less  than  savage  fury.  We  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  and 
have  nothing  to  subsist  on  but  what  we  collect  with  armed  parties.  In  this 
situation  I  believe  you  will  agree  with  me  there  is  nothing  inviting  this  way, 
especially  when  I  assure  you  our  whole  force  fit  for  duty  that  are  properly 
clothed  and  properly  equipped,  does  not  amount  to  800  men."  "  Your  pro 
fessions  and  assurances  of  friendship  are  very  flattering  and  soothing  to  my 
feelings.  I  wish  my  situation  and  future  prospects  afforded  something  more 
inviting  and  worthy  your  attention,  that  I  might  have  an  opportunity  to  indulge 
your  wishes  and  gratify  your  feelings.  But  I  fear  this  department  is  to  be  die 


*  December  29th,  1780. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  $41 

great  Sarbonian  bog  to  the  American  armies,  and  particularly  to  the  general   CHAP. 

officers."  v^v-^/ 

To  Colonel  Coxe  he  writes,*  "  The  condition  of  this  army  for  want  of  cloth 
ing  would  move  your  compassion,  were  you  here  to  behold  their  wretched 
ness."  "  This  country  is  very  extensive  and  thinly  inhabited,  which  renders  it 
exceedingly  difficult  getting  supplies,  if  every  thing  were  managed  in  the  best 
manner  with  the  most  perfect  arrangement.  But  the  loss  of  the  army  in 
Charleston  and  the  defeat  of  General  Gates,  alarmed  North  Carolina  to  such  a 
degree,  that  they  have  kept  on  foot  such  hosts  of  militia  as  have  ravaged  the 
country  from  one  end  to  the  other;  and  to  pay  the  expense  of  subsisting  diem, 
this  state  has  been  obliged  to  strike  such  quantities  of  money  as  have  almost 
rendered  it  worthless. 

"  Thus,  with  an  army  without  clothing  or  provisions,  in  a  country  ex 
hausted,  its  currency  ruined,  the  inhabitants  divided,  and  our  force  less  than 
one  third  of  the  enemy's,  I  believe  you  will  agree  with  me  the  situation  is  dis 
agreeable  and  the  prospect  dismal. 

"  The  whigs  and  tories  too  pursue  each  other  in  this  country  witli  little  less 
than  savage  fury,  and  such  a  spirit  for  plundering  prevails  as  threaten  the  de 
population  of  the  whole  country.  The  whigs  and  tories  are  continually  out 
in  small  parties,  and  all  the  middle  country  is  so  disaffected,  that  you  cannot 
lay  in  the  most  trifling  magazine,  or  send  a  waggon  through  the  country  with 
the  least  article  of  stores,  without  a  guard.  I  am  subsisting  the  army  by  small 
daily  collections  made  by  the  credit  and  influence  of  individuals,  who  have 
charitably  engaged  in  the  business.  Nor  have  I  the  least  aid  of  government 
in  the  business  of  transportation,  and  not  a  shilling  to  help  myself.  Our  situ 
ation  is  still  more  wretched  than  I  have  described  it,  and  must  soon  terminate 
in  the  ruin  and  loss  of  this  country,  unless  some  more  perfect  arrangements- 
can  take  place  for  the  support  of  the  army." 

It  was  not  the  habit  of  Greene's  mind  to  pause  longer  on  difficulties  than  to 
understand  their  full  extent ;  the  next  moment  was  devoted  to  the  application 
of  the  means  to  obviate  them.  The  method  of  subsisting  the  army  from  hand  to 
mouth  was  by  no  means  to  the  taste  of  a  general  who  had  adopted  the  military 
maxim,  that  "  good  feeding  was  the  first  principle  of  good  service."  The 
inquiries  made  into  the  arrangements  and  means  of  subsistence,  convinced 
him  both  of  the  necessity  of  adopting  some  general  improvements  in  the  one, 
and  moving  elsewhere  to  seek  for  the  other.  The  country  about  him  was  so 


January  9, 1781. 


542  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  much  exhausted,  that  Colonel  Polk,  who  then  acted  from  mere  patriotism  asr 
commissary,  declared  it  could  scarcely  afford  subsistence  for  a  week  longer. 
To  draw  provisions  from  any  distance  was  utterly  impracticable  for  want  of 
the  means  of  transportation;  and  that  which  the  contiguous  country  afforded, 
had  been  consumed  alternately  by  friends  and  enemies,  until  there  scarcely 
remained  subsistence  for  the  inhabitants.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  with  regret 
he  learned  from  the  respectable  commissary,  that  many  reasons  concurred  to 
compel  him  to  relinquish  his  office. 

To  find  a  substitute,  and  a  place  to  remove  to,  now  occupied  the  attention 
of  the  southern  commander,  and  his  resolution  was  quickly  taken  as  to  both. 
Plenty  and  retirement  directed  his  choice  as  to  the  latter;  talents,  integrity, 
influence,  and  zeal,  as  to  the  former. 

In  the  person  of  Major  Davic,  the  active  partisan  who  has  already  made  his 
appearance  with  eclat  in  these  pages,  he  found  a  commissary  every  way  suited 
to  his  purposes;  and  the  public  spirit  of  that  gentleman  prompted  him  to  yield 
to  the  solicitations  of  the  southern  commander  to  undertake  the  office.  To 
this  appointment  in  behalf  of  the  United  States,  he  had  the  good  fortune  also 
to  procure  the  appointment  of  state  commissary  to  be  added,  both  for  North 
and  South  Carolina;  and  with  every  thing  that  could  ensure  success,  except 
money,  Major  Davic  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office. 

.  In  fixing  on  a  place  to  retire  to,  General  Greene  did  not  hesitate  in  giving 
a  preference  to  the  head  of  the  boat-navigation  of  the  Pee  Dee  River.  No 
army  of  any  magnitude  had  ever  visited  that  neighbourhood,  and  a  very  fer 
tile  country,  extending  some  distance  down  its  banks — accessible  to  boats  of 
common  burden,  offered  plenty  and  convenience  to  an  army  so  destitute  of  the 
means  of  transportation.  Thither  Kosciusko  was  dispatched  with  a  single 
guide,  to  explore  the  country  and  select  a  position ;  while  the  general  occupied 
himself  in  digesting  a  plan  for  combining  the  operations  of  the  commissariat 
and  quartcr-master-general's  departments  throughout  the  state. 

Intelligence  had  now  been  received  of  General  Leslie's  departure  from  the 
Chesapeake,  and  of  a  large  embarkation  of  troops  from  New  York.  General 
Greene  had  no  doubt  of  Leslie's  destination  to  South  Carolina,  and  it  remained 
only  to  be  ascertained,  whether  the  detachment  from  New  York,  said  to  be 
3,000  strong,  was  not  intended  also  for  Charleston.  For  that  place  or  Nor 
folk  it  certainly  was  destined.  In  the  one  case,  his  little  force  was  to  be  over 
whelmed  at  once  by  the  torrent  that  would  move  northwardly;  in  the  other, 
it  was  to  be  cut  off  from  its  resources  in  Virginia,  and  made  to  linger  and 
perish  under  the  persecutions  of  the  force  under  Cornwallis.  In  either  case,  it 
was  obvious  that  North  Carolina  must  be  the  scene  of  active  operations:  and 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

it  became  the  more  important  to  explore  and  combine  its  resources,  so  as  to  CHAP. 
act  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  means  of  subsistence  and  transportation  ^v 
which  every  part  could  afford  him ;  since  it  must  depend  upon  casualties  in 
what  part  he  must  meet  his  enemy,  it  was  necessary  to  be  prepared  to  meet 
him  every  where. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  congress  made  that  great  change  in  its  system  of 
subsistence  by  which  the  states  were  severally  called  upon  to  support  the  war  by 
specific  contributions.  Hitherto  money  had  been  required  of  them;  but  "  they 
asked  bread  and  received  a  stone."  The  money  contributed  consisted  in 
"  promises" — for  the  printing-press  was  the  only  mint  which  furnished  a  me 
dium  of  circulation.  Paper  money  was  sunk  to  a  mere  nominal  value,  and 
such  was  the  absolute  prostration  of  public  credit,  that  specific  contribution 
was  the  dernier  resort. 

In  order  to  make  efficient  arrangements  for  availing  himself  of  the  contribu 
tions  of  North  Carolina,  Major  Davie  was  dispatched  to  attend  on  the  legisla 
ture,  and  concert  with  them  a  plan  for  registering  all  the  waggons  and  teams 
of  every  county,  so  that,  together  with  correct  information  of  their  number 
and  place,  the  burden  might  be  equally  distributed ;  and  for  collecting  small 
magazines  at  various  points  in  the  rear  of  the  army,  in  bulk  not  sufficient  to 
make  them  an  object  of  enterprise  to  an  enemy,  and  in  situations  adapted  to 
the  triple  purpose  of  supplying  the  army,  supporting  the  recruiting  service,,  and 
furnishing  subsistence  to  the  troops  advancing  from  the  north  and  west  to  his 
relief.  At  Oliphant's  Mill,  high  up  the  Catawba,  one  extensive  magazine  was 
directed  to  be  established,  as  the  operations  upon  the  Catawba  might  create  a 
large  demand  m  a  quarter  from  which  river  transportation  would  present  such 
facilities. 

Major  Davie  met  with  the  most  prompt  and  liberal  support  from  the  state 
authorities,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  collecting  magazines  at  every 
court-house  in  the  state,  as  well  as  officers  appointed  to  register  and  report  the 
produce  and  means  of  transportation  of  every  county.  But  the  want  of  zeal 
in  the  county  deputies  sadly  baffled  these  judicious  arrangements. 

The  next  object  that  drew  the  attention  of  the  genera]  was  the  re-establish 
ment  of  the  North  Carolina  line.  That  state  had  not,  at  the  time,  an  enlisted 
man  in  the  field.  Their  whole  force  on  the  continental  establishment,  about 
five  hundred  in  number,  had  been  captured  at  the  fall  of  Charleston,  and  no 
measures  had  been  taken  to  restore  the  state's  quota.  Many  of  their  officers  , 
were  dispersed  throughout  the  country;  and,  although  it  was  conjectured  that 
there  were  then  wandering  through  the  state  several  hundred  soldiers  of  their 


344  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  line,  who  had  been  left  behind  from  sickness  or  other  causes,  or  had  escaped 
deserted,  no  measures  had  been  taken  to  embody  them. 
General  Sumner,  the  senior  officer  on  the  continental  establishment  in  the 
state,  was  called  upon  to  pay  immediate  attention  to  this  subject,  and  a  strong 
remonstrance  addressed  to  the  governor  against  the  impolicy  and  injustice  of 
leaving  it  neglected,  at  a  time  so  critical.  "  On  my  arrival  here,"  says  the 
writer,  "  I  find  nothing  but  the  shadow  of  an  army  in  the  midst  of  distress. 
War  is  a  very  critical  business;  even  wrhere  every  precaution  is  taken,  it  is 
eubject  to  great  and  sudden  changes.  Nothing,  therefore,  should  be  left  to 
chance,  but  what  cannot  be  avoided.  In  all  governments  much  depends  upon 
opinion,  but  more  in  this  than  almost  any  other,  from  the  circumstances  of  the 
currency  and  the  division  of  sentiment  among  the  inhabitants.  The  liberties 
of  the  people  are  a  great  object,  and  the  security  of  their  property  little  less  so. 
I  persuade  myself,  therefore,  if  the  inhabitants  are  rightly  informed,  they  can 
not  be  averse  to  taking  such  measures  and  submitting  to  such  inconveniences 
as  are  indispensable  to  their  future  security;  especially  as  many  have  already 
felt  the  ravaging  hand  of  war.  It  does  not  admit  of  doubt,  that  the  enemy 
mean  to  prosecute  offensive  operations  against  this  state.  The  only  matter  of 
uncertainty  is  the  force  to  be  employed,  and  the  particular  places  of  destina 
tion.  Part  of  the  troops  said  to  be  embarking  at  New  York  mentioned  in  my 
former  letter,  have  arrived  in  Charleston,  and  the  rest  cannot  be  far  distant. 
The  small  force  which  we  have  in  the  field  is  very  incompetent  to  give  protec 
tion  to  this  state;  nor  would  a  large  body  of  militia  remedy  the  evil,  as  our 
difficulties  in  the  articles  of  forage  and  provision  are  not  less  than  the  want  of 
men,  and  these  evils  must  constantly  increase  as  long  as  the  war  is  carried  on 
by  the  militia  of  the  country.  It  requires  more  thun  double  the  number  of 
mititia  to  be  kept  in  the  field,  attended  with  infinitely  more  waste  and  expense 
than  would  be  necessary  to  give  full  security  to  the  country  with  a  regular  and 
permanent  army.  Add  to  this,  the  obstructions  to  badness,  and  the  distress  it 
spreads  among  the  inhabitants  at  large,  and  no  one  who  has  the  true  interests 
of  his  country  at  heart  can  hesitate  about  the  propriety  of  filling  the  continental 
battalions  agreeably  to  the  late  requisitions  of  congress.  This  I  wish  may 
take  place  immediately,  and,  (If  it  can  be  effected,)  by  draft;  as  I  am  per 
suaded,  if  it  can  be,  it  would  damp  the  enemy's  hopes  more  than  ten  victories. 
"  It  appears  to  me,  the  misfortunes  which  have  attended  this  country  have 
been  owing  to  the  commanding  officers  putting  too  much  to  the  hazard;  and 
this  I  fear,  with  a  wish  of  complying  with  the  wishes  and  impatience  of  the 
inhabitants.  By  trying  to  save  too  much  we  often  lose  all.  It  is  natural  for 
people  who  are  affected  with  the  calamities  of  war  to  wish  to  make  a  grear 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

effort  to  remove  the  evil,  but  ill-judged  exertions  only  serve  to  fix  the  chains  so  CHAT-. 
much  the  faster.  ^^ 

•  "  It  is  my  wish  and  shall  be  my  endeavour  to  render  this  state  every  service 
in  my  power,  and  I  hope  every  aid  and  support  will  be  given  me  to  crown  my ' 
efforts  with  success,     I  may  not  always  agree  with  the  people  in  the  manner 
of  conducting  the  war,  but  they  may  be  assured  that  I  have  their  true  interests 
at  heart. 

"  The  king  of  Prussia  says,  in  defending  a  country  you  must  attend  to  great 
objects  and  submit  to  partial  evils. 

•*  It  is  natural  for  an  army  in  distress  to  lose  its  discipline  and  invade  the 
rights  and  property  of  the  citizens ;  nor  is  it  possible  always  to  avoid  it  without 
driving  your  men  to  desperation.  Soldiers  feel  like  other  men,  and  their 
miseries  should  not  be  insulted,  if  they  cannot  be  remedied.  Many  affect  to 
express  their  apprehension  of  the  ambitious  views  of  an  army.  Nothing  can 
be  more  idle ;  for,  what  can  be  effected  by  an  army  when  left  to  itself,  which 
can  scarcely  be  subsisted  by  all  the  powers  of  government?  It  is  my  wish  to 
pay  the  most  sacred  regard  to  the  laws  and  constitution  of  the  state ;  but  the 
emergencies  of  war  are  often  so  pressing,  that  it  becomes  necessary  to  invade 
the  rights  of  the  citizens  to  prevent  public  calamities.  The  occasion  must 
always  give  justification  to  the  measure,  and  few  but  the  captious  will  cavil  at 
it.  This  is  what  we  are  often  driven  to  at  the  northward,  and  the  commander 
in  chief  never  hesitates  to  take  whatever  is  necessarj-  for  the  support  of  the 
army.  At  the  same  time  we  consider  it  as  a  great  misfortune  to  be  reduced 
to  this  necessity;  for  nothing  is  more  destructive  to  the  discipline  and  good 
government  of  an  army.  And  for  this  reason,  it  is  my  wish  that  the  state 
would  take  measures  for  giving  us  the  most  effectual  support.  Every  possible 
severity  shall  be  exercised  to  preserve  the  property  of  the  people  from  unjust 
invasion.  Manv  may  think  that  war  can  be  accommodated  to  civil  come- 

•  •/ 

nicnce,  but  he  who  undertakes  to  conduct  it  upon  this  principle,  will  soon 
sacrifice  the  people  he  means  to  protect,"  Sec. 

It  is  obvious  that  this  letter  has  in  view  anodic**  object  besides  inciting  the 
government  to  the  raising  of  a  regular  force.  It  was  to  prepare  them  for  the 
exercise  of  that  supreme  authority  which  the  commanding  officer  was  resolved 
to  assert  in  the  conduct  of  the  war — not  to  be  turned  aside  or  controlled  in  his 
measures  by  popular  opinion  or  popular  clamour;  and  to  incur  any  responsi 
bility  in  order  to  promote  the  great  end  of  his  command — the  protection  of  the 
country.  Hence  he  intimates  that  while  he  will  sacredly  respect  private  pro 
perty,  yet  even  that  must  be  invaded  when  the  exigencies  of  war  shall  renr.lre 
it.  A  principle  from  which,  it  will  be  found,  he  never  deviated,  but  which 

44 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  was  exercised  with  such  justice  and  moderation  as  to  produce  the  least  possible 
inconvenience,  and  passively  acquiesced  in  until  a  phantom  inspired  the  opi 
nion  that  it  \vas  no  longer  indispensable. 

A  multitude  of  minor  cares  shared  the  attention  of  the  southern  commander 
during  the  first  fortnight  after  he  took  command  of  the  army;  and  it  was  not 
until  every  thing  necessary  for  the  operations  of  an  army,  even  to  an  axe  or 
a  nail,  had  received  his  attention,  that  he  allowed  himself  a  moment's  respite 
from  the  most  intense  application  to  business. 

On  the  16th  of  December,  the  troops  were  put  under  marching  orders,  but 
incessant  rains  prevented  them,  not  from  striking  their  tents,  for  they  had 
none,  but  from  abandoning  their  huts  at  Charlotte,  until  the  20th.  On  that 
day  they  took  up  the  line  of  march  by  Wadesborough  to  Haley's  Ferry,  where 
it  was  originally  designed  that  they  should  be  posted,  but  on  the  recommenda 
tion  of  Kosciusko,  they  were  moved  down  the  east  side  of  the  river  to  Hick's 
Creek,  nearly  opposite  the  Cheraw  Hill,  the  present  site  of  the  village  of  Chat 
ham.  On  this  march  they  were  commanded  by  General  Isaac  Huger,  the 
only  general,  and  almost  the  only  officer  of  the  Carolina  line  not  in  captivity. 
He  had  joined  Greene  at  Charlotte,  and  was  at  this  time,  the  only  general  offi 
cer  with  the  southern  army. 

On  the  same  day  that  the  army  was  put  under  marching  orders  for  the 
Pee  Dee,  a  movement  to  the  enemy's  right,  the  detachment  under  General 
Morgan  was  ordered  to  cross  the  Catawba  and  approach  the  position  of  Lord 
Cornwallis  at  W'innsborough,  on  his  left.  Their  numbers,  and  the  instruc 
tions  under  which  their  commander  acted,  will  be  best  developed  in  the  fol 
lowing  letter: 

"Camp  Charlotte,  December  \6th,  1780. 

"  You  are  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  corps  of  light-infantry  of  320 
men  detached  from  the  Maryland  line,  a  detachment  of  Virginia  militia  of  200 
men,  and  Colonel  Washington's  regiment  of  light-horse,  amounting  to  from 
sixty  to  an  hundred  men.  With  these  troops  you  will  proceed  to  the  west  side 
of  the  Cataw^ba  River,  where  you  will  be  joined  by  a  body  of  volunteer  militia 
under  command  of  General  Davidson  of  this  state,  and  by  the  militia  lately 
under  command  of  General  Sumpter.  This  force  and  such  others  as  may 
join  you  from  Georgia,  you  will  employ  against  the  enemy  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Catawba,  either  offensively  or  defensively,  as  your  own  prudence  and  dis 
cretion  may  direct — acting  with  caution  and  avoiding  surprises  by  every  pos 
sible  precaution.  For  the  present,  I  give  you  the  entire  command  in  that 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GHEKNK.  &V7 

quarter,  and  do  hereby  require  all  officers  and  solders  engaged  iu  the  American   CHAP. 
cause  to  be  subject  to  your  orders  and  command*  V^TV^- 

"  The  object  of  this  detachment  is  to  give  protection  to  that  part  of  the 
country  and  spirit  up  the  people— to  annoy  the  enemy  in  that  quarter — to 
collect  the  provision  and  forage  out  of  their  way — which  you  will  have  formed 
into  a  number  of  small  magazines  in  the  rear  of  the  position  you  may  think 
proper  to  take.  You  will  prevent  plundering  as  much  as  possible,  and  be  as 
careful  of  your  provisions  and  forage  as  may  be,  giving  receipts  for  whatever 
you  take  to  all  such  as  are  friends  to  the  independence  of  America. 

"  Should  the  enemy  move  in  force  towards  the  Pee  Dee,  where  the  army 
will  take  a  position,  you  will  move  in  such  a  direction  as  to  enable  you  to  join 
me  if  necessary,  or  fall  upon  the  flank,  or  into  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  as  occa 
sion  may  require.  You  will  spare  no  pains  to  get  good  intelligence  of  the 
enemy's  situation,  and  keep  me  constantly  advised  of  both  your  and  their 
movements.  You  will  appoint  for  the  time  being,  a  commissary,  quarter 
master,  and  forage-master,  who  will  follow  your  instructions  in  their  respective 
lines.  Confiding  in  your  abilities  and  activity,  I  entrust  you  with  this  com 
mand,  persuaded,"  &c, 

.  The  main  army  reached  their  encampment  on  die  26th,  and  were  soon  after 
joined  by  their  commander.  The  motives  which  determined  him  to  adopt 
tliis  position  were,  plenty,  water-transportation,  and  security ;  and  although 
the  total  prostration  of  government  in  South  Carolina,  and  the  extreme  fee 
bleness  of  that  of  North  Carolina,  in  that  remote  and  disaffected  country, 
greatly  embarrassed  the  supplying  of  his  army,  his  situation  was  perfectly 
secure  from  disturbance,  and  left  him  at  liberty  to  pursue  the  great  design  of 
the  movement, — recruiting  the  strength  and  spirits,  and  reviving  and  im 
proving  the  discipline  of  his  army.  It  was  a  camp  of  repose. 

To  this  great  object  every  one's  attention  was  now  directed.  In  order  to 
give  his  soldiers  the  full  advantage  of  the  instructions  and  exercises  of  the 
camp,  a  number  of  the  neighbouring  militia  were  called  into  service  to  per' 
form  those  duties,  on  which  otherwise  it  would  have  been  necessary  to  detach 
regular  troops;  and  every  effort  was  made  to  give  to  the  army  that  consist 
ency,  to  impress  upon  it  those  habits  of  acting  and  thinking,  to  instruct  it  in 
that  camp  economy,  and  inspire  it  with  that  martial  spirit,  which  were  neces 
sary  to  prepare  it  for  the  active  scenes  now  confidently  anticipated. 

But  the  work  of  preparation  was  not  confined  to  the  men;  there  was  much 
to  be  done  towards  combining  and  directing  the  feelings  and  talents  of  his 
officers.  Nothing  is  more  fatal  to  an  army  than  the  want  of  harmony  among 


48  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  those  who  command  it.  The  want  of  cordial,  mutual,  zealous  support  among 
^-v-^y officers,  will  mar  the  best  digested  plans  of  operation;  men  will  not  contribute 
to  increase  the  military  fame  of  those  whom  they  hate,  or  enw,  and  many 
have  been  the  sacrifices  of  public  good  to  the  baneful  influence  of  jealousy  and 
rivalship.  To  inspire  a  noble  emulation,  far  above  yielding  to  the  low  sugges 
tions  of  selfishness  in  his  officers,  is  of  incalculable  importance  to  him  who 
stands  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  an  army. 

Few  instances  have  ever  occurred  of  the  prevalence  of  more  perfect  har 
mony  in  a  camp  than  that  which  was  exhibited  in  the  southern  campaign  of 
1781.  The  principal  cause  was  unquestionably  the  good  sense  and  excellent 
qualities  of  the  officers  generally.  It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  an  idea  of 
an  army  better  officered.  Young,  gallant,  intelligent,  and  devoted  to  the  ctiuse, 
they  sought  out  opportunities  for  service  and  distinction,  but  forgot  not  the 
deference  due  to  rank  and  merit,  or  the  just  claims  of  a  brother  officer.  Sym 
pathizing  in  the  distresses  of  the  country  they  came  to  protect,  they  submitted 
to  every  hardship  and  privation,  not  only  with  resignation  but  with  cheerful 
ness.  With  most  of  them  the  general  had  been  previously  acquainted,  for 
they  had  served  with  him  or  under  him,  from  an  early  period  of  the  war,  and 
what  he  had  wanted  of  opportunity  to  study  their  characters,  his  camp  of 
repose  on  the  Pee  Dee  now  afforded  him. 

One  consequence  of  his  previous  knowledge  or  subsequent  observation  was, 
an  obvious  effort  to  find  some  honourable  pretexts  for  keeping  several  distantly 
employed,  and  a  prompt  extension  of  the  furloughs  of  others,  because  their 
presence  would  have  superceded  officers  of  inferior  rank.  Thus  were  Colonels 
^Villiams,  Howard,  Ford,  and  Washington,  kept  in  command  as  much  as  pos 
sible. 

So  much  importance  did  General  Greene  attach  to  the  preservation  of  har 
mony  among  his  officers,  that  he  never  thought  any  pains  too  great  to  bestow 
upon  it.  His  own  example  undoubtedly  contributed  much  towards  promoting 
it,  for  die  manners  of  officers  in  camp  soon  receive  a  tone  from  those  of  their 
commander,  where  he  reigns  in  their  affections  as  well  as  over  their  actions. 
The  winning  benevolence  of  his  deportment  towards  them,  directed  their 
attachments  to  the  same  object,  and  tliis  naturally  leads  men  to  regard  each 
other  as  a  band  of  brothers.  Nor  did  he  consider  it  of  small  importance,  to 
give  that  direction  to  their  pursuits  and  appropriation  of  dine,  which  would 
add  dignity  to  their  profession,  and  contribute  to  render  the  society  of  his 
canip  both  pleasant  and  instructive  Of  this  he  set  them  examples  well  worthy 
of  imitation.  His  only  amusements  were  reading  and  conversation;  but  nei 
ther  of  them  ever  suffered  to  intrench  14)011  die  hours  of  business,  or  the  calls 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  349 

of  duty.     His  industry  was  even  laborious;  for  all  his  letters  were  written  by   CHAP. 
his  own  hand  and  distributed  to  his  aids  for  copying.     The  labours  of  the  day  s^-v-^ 
were  uniformly  closed  by  preparing  the  dispatches  which  the  occurrences  of 
the  day  had  required.     It  was  seldom  before  midnight  that  he  retired  to  rest, 
and  then,  when  the  hum  of  the  camp  had  subsided,  and  the  silence  of  the  night 
was  only  interrupted  by  the  challenge  of  the  sentinel,  or  the  heavy  tread  of 
the  night-guard,  was  his  favourite  time  for  reading  and  reflection.     To  these 
purposes  the  allotted  hour  was  uniformly  devoted  before  he  committed  himself 
to  his  pillow. 

Nor  was  General  Greene  inattentive  to  the  good  effects  of  promoting  con 
vivial  intercourse  among  his  officers.  It  contributed  to  the  promotion  of  all 
his  views;  for  while  it  brought  them  under  his  own  eye  in  situations  in 
which  the  heart  becomes  undisguised,  and  temper  and  talent  will  flash  out  in 
their  true  characters,  it  produced  that  additional  tie  among  men,  of  mutual 
dependance  for  enjoyments,  and  habitual  participation  of  the  same  pleasures 
or  privations.  Nor  was  it  without  its  effects  in  opening  the  eyes  of  the  junior 
officers  to  the  deference  which  mind,  merit,  and  talents  will  command,  or  the 
necessity  of  manners  and  acquirements  to  mantain  the  rank  of  an  officer. 

The  officers  of  the  army  were  regularly  invited  in  rotation  to  their  general's 
table,  and  though  the  commander,  who  had  neither  riches  of  his  own,  nor 
money  of  the  state  at  command  ;  who  was  not  in  the  receipt  even  of  a  cent  of 
pay,  and  subsisted  in  common  with  others  by  forced  means,  could  riot  oficr 
much  to  the  palate  of  the  epicure,  or  the  eye  of  fastidious  taste,  every  defi 
ciency  was  made  up  by  the  cordial  manners  of  their  entertainer,  and  an  occa 
sional  promise  to  treat  them  better  when  he  should  have  the  pleasure  of  enter 
taining  them  in  Charleston.  At  the  social  board  the  restraints  of  parade  no 
longer  existed,  yet  little  was  necessary  for  tempering  familiar  intercourse  with 
a  dignity  of  manner  that  repressed  familiarity.  On  these  occasions  the  senti 
ments  of  the  young  were  elicited  and  the  diffident  encouraged  to  adventure  in 
conversation — an  expedient  well  calculated  to  create  a  necessity  which  can 
only  be  supplied  by  study  and  application.  Modesty  never  was  permitted,  at 
his  table,  to  repine  at  the  superior  attention  commanded  by  the  gay  and  the 
forward,  and  no  guest  left  it  dissatisfied  either  with  himself  or  his  entertainer. 

The  general  was  fond  of  conversation,  and  delighted  to  render  it  general 
and  entertaining.  Yet  he  rather  ranked  among  the  listeners  than  the  speakers, 
and  seldom  did  more  than  direct  it  by  an  observation  or  an  inquiry.  His 
favourite  subjects  \vere  ethics,  politics,  and  military  history.  On  these  his 
funds  were  very  ample,  both  of  native  and  acquired  materials — a  circumstance 
which  probably  recommended  these  topics  to  a  preference,  not  less  than  their 


350  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  being  calculated  to  give  dignity  as  well  as  an  improving  character  to  conver- 
^^s^/  sation.  Nor  were  subjects  of  taste  and  science  excluded,  or  any  restraint  set 
upon  the  predilections  of  his  guests;  he  had  many  officers  well  calculated  to 
give  all  the  grace  to  convivial  enjoyment  jhat  spirit,  wit,  and  classic  reading 
bring  in  their  train.  Nor  was  die  general  deficient  on  subjects  of  taste ;  for 
although  he  had  no  knowledge  of  any  language  but  his  own,  he  had  not  passed 
unnoticed  the  authors  of  rank  of  this  class,  either  ancient  or  modern.  But 
the  solid  acquirements  which  the  grave  concerns  of  that  day  brought  into 
requisition,  stamped  a  superior  value  on  that  kind  of  reading  which  was  use 
ful,  rather  than  ornamental. 

The  time  spent  on  the  Pee  Dee  was  also  beneficially  emproved  to  other 
important  purposes.  It  was  at  this  period  that  his  active  and  intelligent  agents 
were  employed  in  exploring  the  rivers  above  him,  and  digesting  those  arrange 
ments  relative  to  the  means  of  crossing  them,  which  might  become  necessary 
either  to  check  the  progress  of  an  enemy,  or  facilitate  his  own.  At  the  same 
time,  with  regard  to  the  country  below  him,  which  being  in  possession  of  the 
enemy  could  not  be  dins  examined,  he  was  himself  busily  employed  in  collect 
ing  from  intelligent  men  brought  together  by  the  aid  of  Governor  Rutledge, 
then  in  camp  with  him,  the  most  minute  accounts  of  every  tiling  that  had  rela 
tion  to  the  movements  and  subsistence  of  an  army.  The  routes  in  all  direc 
tions  were  carefully  minuted  down  in  books,  some  of  which  are  still  extant; 
the  topography  of  die  country  minutely  ascertained,  with  a  particular  notice 
of  the  ferries  and  fords  of  the  rivers,  and  the  means  of  transportation  which 
they  afforded. 

The  following  summary  of  his  views  of  his  situation  is  gathered  from  his 
own  correspondence  as  communicated  to  his  friends  from  time  to  time,  as  those 
views  opened  upon  his  inquiries.  "  I  am  here  in  my  camp  of  repose,  improv- 
•  ing  the  discipline  and  spirits  of  my  men,  and  die  opportunity  tor  looking  about 
Die.  I  am  well  satisfied  with  the  movement,  for  it  has  answered  thus  far  all 
the  purj>oses  for  which  I  intended  it.  It  makes  die  most  of  my  inferior  force, 
for  it  compels  my  adversary  to  divide  his,  and  holds  him  in  doubt  as  to  his 
own  line  of  conduct.  He  cannot  leave  Morgan  behind  him  to  come  at  me, 
or  his  posts  of  Ninety-Six  and  Augusta  would  be  exposed.  And  he  cannot 
chase  Morgan  »far,  or  prosecute  his  views  upon  Virginia  while  I  am  here  with 
the  whole  country  open  before  me.  I  am  as  near  to  Charleston  as  he  is,  and 
as  near  to  Hillsborough  as  I  was  at  Charlotte;  so  that  I  am  in  no  danger  of 
being  cut  off  from  my  reinforcements,  while  an  uncertainty  as  to  my  future 
designs  has  made  it  necessary  to  leave  a  large  detachment  of  the  enemy's  late 
reinforcements  in  Charleston,  and  move  the  rest  up  on  this  side  the  Waterce. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  351 

But  although  there  is  nothing  to  obstruct  my  march  to  Charleston,  I  am  far  CHAP. 
from  having  such  a  design  in  contemplation  in  the  present  relative  positions  s-^v^w/ 
and  strength  of  the  two  armies.  It  would  be  putting  it  in  die  power  of  my 
enemy  to  compel  me  to  fight  him.  At  present,  my  operations  must  be  in  the 
country  where  the  rivers  are  fordable,  and  to  guard  against  the  chance  of  not 
being  able  to  choose  my  ground.  Kosciusko  is  employed  in  building  flat-bot 
tomed  boats  to  be  transported  with  the  army,  if  ever  I  shall  be  able  to  com 
mand  the  means  of  transporting  them.  I  am  how  at  the  falls  of  the  Pee  Dee, 
and  the  region  of  my  future  operations  must  be  above  die  falls  of  the  rivers, 
until  I  can  control  the  movements  of  my  adversary.  Below  the  falls,  all 
through  diis  country  from  the  Alleghany  to  the  seacoast,  and  from  the  Chesa 
peake  to  Georgia,  the  coutry  is  champaign,  and  presenting  no  passes  that  can 
be  held  by  an  inferior  force.  Below  the  falls,  the  rivers  are  deep,  and  their 
banks  are  covered  with  impassible  swamps,  across  which,  at  long  intervals, 
roads  have  been  constructed  which  afford  the  only  avenues  of  retreat.  I  can 
not  venture  to  get  entangled  among  the  difficulties  they  present  until  I  can  turn 
upon  my  enemy  and  fight  him  when  I  please. 

"  I  find  the  difficulties  of  subsisting  an  army  far  beyond  all  anticipation. 
Even  here,  where  the  inhabitants  are  generally  well  disposed,  they  will  not 
gather  in  their  crops  from  the  field,  because  depositing  their  grain  in  their 
barns  exposes  it  to  be  seized  by  their  friends,  or  burnt  by  their  enemies.  It  is 
hard  to  stand  so  much  in  need  of  friends,  and  be  compelled  to  subsist  ourselves 
by  means  so  well  calculated  to  convert  our  friends  into  enemies.  But  we  have 
not  a  shilling  of  money,  and  must  collect  subsistence  by  force,  or  disband.  I 
have  had  an  opportunity  of  learning  the  force  of  die  loyalists  in  these  states, 
and  the  parts  of  the  country  in  which  they  reside,  and  their  numbers  and  zeal 
present  a  formidable  obstacle  to  our  future  measures.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
whig  population  has  been  greatly  reduced  by  the  numbers  that  have  fled  from 
the  distress  that  friends  and  foes  have  heaped  upon  them.  The  enemy  are 
now  recruiting  in  all  parts  of  this  state,  and  the  command  of  gold,  aided  by  the 
public  distress  and  loyal  feeling,  has  been  too  successful  in  promoting  the  pro 
ject  of  making  one  conquest  die  stepping-ston^  to  another.  At  present  they 
are  in  possession  of  all  die  fertile  and  populous  parts  of  South  Carolina,  and 
undl  circumstances  will  admit  of  my  penetrating  into  the  heart  of  the  country 
to  meet  and  fight  him,  we  shall  have  to  operate  in  a  country  that  has  been 
exhausted  and  depopulated  by  the  swarms  of  mounted  militia  that  have  rather 
been  impoverishing  dian  defending  die  country. 

"  Yet  I  should  feel  no  apprehension  for  the  event,  had  I  a  prospect  of  being 
supported  by  a  permanent  force.  But  North  Carolina  has  not  a  man  on  foot, 


352  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  and  Virginia  only  a  few  raw  and  naked  troops,  and  those  enlisted  for  a  short 
,  time.  The  fine  troops  of  Maryland  and  Delaware,  enlisted  for  the  war,  are 
now  reduced  comparatively  to  a  handful,  and  General  Gist  gives  me  no  hope 
of  an  early  reinforcement  from  that  quarter.  North  Carolina  seems  disposed 
to  assist  us,  but  her  councils  are  so  distracted  that  I  cannot  hope  much  from  her 
efforts.  The  whigs  will  not  serve  unless  the  tories  are  compelled,  and  the 
tories  are  too  strong  to  be  driven,  or  if  forced  to  take  the  field,  will  run  away, 
desert,  or  betray  us.  Virginia,  without  money  and  without  credit,  I  fear  can 
do  little  more;  and  in  both  states,  militia  substitutes  are  too  much  in  demand, 
to  leave  materials  for  enlisting  an  army,  except  for  very  limited  periods.  Hence 
their  troops  will  be  for  ever  iluctuating,  and  will  scarcely  have  acquired  disci 
pline  sufficient  to  give  reputation  or  confidence  to  their  officers,  before  they 
must  be  discharged,  greatly  to  the  disgust  of  the  troops  enlisted  for  the  war." 
Great  would  have  been  the  relief  to  General  Greene's  mind,  if  the  imme 
diate  cares  of  the  camp  alone  had  been  those  which,  at  this  time,  engrossed  his 
attention.  But  the  arrival  of  General  Leslie  in  Charleston,  had  now  been 
communicated  to  him  by  Marion,  and  the  daily  accession  of  strength  to  his 
adversary's  force,  caused  him  to  turn  his  eyes  anxiously  to  the  north  for  sup 
plies  and  reinforcements.  It  has  been  seen,  that  among  the  considerations 
which  had  given  a  preference  to  his  present  position,  was  that  of  its  being 
nearer  to  Hillsborough,  through  which  all  his  supplies  must  pass,  than  any 
other  place  which  could  afford  him  subsistence  without  bearing  the  aspect  of  a 
retreat.  His  late  movement,  therefore,  produced  no  delay  in  the  approach  of 
reinforcements,  yet  no  supplies,  and  only  a  few  convalescents  had  as  yet  ar 
rived  in  camp. 

Whilst  in  Philadelphia,  General  Greene  had  satisfied  himself  on  a  subject  of 
which  he  had  previously  very  little  cause  to  doubt,  to  wit,  that  he  could  draw 
nothing  from  the  magazines  of  the  United  States,  without  distressing  the  com 
mander  in  chief.  Unwilling  to  do  this,  he  had  endeavoured,  as  has  been  seen, 
to  spirit  up  the  merchants  of  that  place  to  a  voluntary  contribution  of  clothing; 
he  had  also  repeated  the  effort  at  all  the  towns  on  iiis  journey  south,  with  as 
little  success.  But  congress,  really  solicitous  on  this  subject,  had  appointed  a 
committee  of  their  body  for  the  express  purpose  of  procuring  clotliing,  To 
this  committee  he  had  recommended  to  make  an  effort  at  purchasing  clothing 
for  the  southern  army  by  drafts  upon  our  envoys  abroad,  in  anticipation  of 
the  sums  which  those  envoys  were  authorised  to  borrow.  This  measure  they 
at  first  declined,  but  were  soon  after  obliged  to  resort  to.  Still  there  was  a 
hope  that  the  states  would  be  able  to  afford  him  relief,  but  after  diligently  ex 
ploring  their  resources,  he  found  it  a  folly  to  rest  on  this  dependance,  and 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

renewed  his  instances  to  the  committee  of  congress.  From  Richmond  he  CHAP. 
wrote  to  Colonel  Matlock,  chairman  of  that  committee.  "  It  was  my  inten-  ^^ 
don  jo  have  addressed  you  before  this,  respecting  the  prospect  and  encourage 
ment  I  met  with  of  obtaining  a  supply  of  clothing,  but  I  have  postponed  it  with 
a  view  of  satisfying  myself  on  this  head  in  this  state;  and  am  now  fully  con 
vinced  that  the  southern  army  will  be  entirely  without  clothing  unless  you 
draw  bills  on  France  and  provide  for  us  in  the  way  I  proposed.  The  accounts 
from  the  southern  army  mention  the  condition  of  the  Virginia  line  as  naked 
and  distressing  beyond  description,  and  this  state  says  it  is  utterly  impossible 
for  them  to  furnish  clothing,  (nor  do  I  believe  they  can,)  in  time  to  save  us 
from  ruin.  You  may  depend  upon  its  being  utterly  impossible  to  keep  up  a. 
force  sufficient  to  oppose  the  enemy's  operations  in  the  southern  quarter,  with 
out  clothing.  It  may  be  disagreeable  to  draw  bills  on  France,  but  it  is  better 
to  do  this  than  to  let  the  army  go  to  ruin.  The  distress  and  suffering  of  the 
troops  of  the  southern  army  on  account  of  provision,  is  sufficient  to  render  the 
Service  so  disagreeable  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  keep  them  in  the  field.  But 
when  they  are  perishing  with  cold  as  well  as  hunger,  the  whole  army  must 
become  deserters,  or  patients  in  the  hospitals.  Both  policy  and  humanity  call 
loudly  for  supplies  of  clothing.  The  people  of  this  state  and  Maryland  say 
they  are'  willing  to  do  all  in  their  power  lo  provide  clothing,  be  the  conse 
quence  what  it  may,  and  I  wish  that  their  ability  to  supply  it  may  not  be  over 
rated." 

His  importunities  were  ably  seconded  in  Philadelphia,  by  the  instances  of 
Colonel  Febiger,  and  a  respectable  supply  of  tents,  stores,  and  some  clothing, 
were  put  in  motion  for  the  southern  army  early  in  November.  Colonel  Pick 
ering  also,  and  General  Knox  zealously  contributed  their  good  offices  in  the 
quarter-master  and  ordnance  departments,  and  artificers  and  stores  for  the 
laboratories  were  forwarded  to  Virginia,  together  with  a  respectable  supply  of 
equipments  for  cavalry  horses.  These  had  now  been  on  their  way  for  a  Icngtlj 
of  time,  but  the  miserable  state  of  the  means  of  transportation  in  the  south,  and 
the  Virginia  roads,  even  then  celebrated  for  their  distinguishing  characteristic, 
had  greatly  impeded  their  progress.  Apprehensive  that  great  embarrassments 
would  result  from  these  causes,  General  Greene  had,  early  in  December,  dis 
patched  Colonel  Carrington  to  Virginia,  to  superintend  tins  important  business 
of  transportation,  with  orders  to  hasten  to  rejoin  the  army  as  soon  as  he  should 
have  completed  his  line  of  arragements. 

Nor  had  less  delay  been  encountered  in  the  advance  of  the  reinforcements 
which  the  southern  commander  had  a  right  to  calculate  on — an  evil  which  ho 
had  early  anticipated,  from  finding  on  lu's  journey  that  the  quarter-master's 

45 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 
staScs  col'ld  n°t  furnish  even  forage  for  his  own  horses,  not  even  in  Rich- 


These  reinforcements  consisted  of  Lee's  legion  —  a  body  of  Virginia  recruits. 
and  a  legionary  corps  commanded  by  General  Lawson  of  Virginia,  which  had 
been  put  under  marching  orders  for  the  southern  army. 

The  legionary  corps  commanded  by  Col.  Henry  Lee,  was  perhaps  the  finest 
corps  that  made  its  appearance  on  the  arena  of  the  revolutionary  war.  It  was 
formed  expressly  for  Colonel  Lee,  under  an  order  of  General  Washington 
whilst  the  army  lay  in  Jersey.  It  consisted,  at  this  time,  of  about  300  men  in 
rqual  proportion  of  infantry  and  horse.  Both  men  and  officers  were  picked 
from  the  army;  the  officers  with  reference  only  to  their  talents  and  qualities 
for  sen  ice,  and  the  men  by  a  proportionable  selection  from  the  troops  of  each 
state,  enlisted  for  three  years  or  the  war.  Virginia  contributed  twenty-five  as 
her  quota.  No  state  South  of  Virginia  contributed  any,  as  they  had  no  troops 
in  the  field. 

Colonel  Lee  had  been  expected  to  march  early  in  October  from  Philadelphia, 
but  the  equipping,  disciplining,  (and  perhaps  exhibiting)  his  command,  had 
rendered  his  movements  very  slow  ;  his  journey  from  Fredericksburg  to  Rich 
mond,  for  instance,  required  a  fortnight,  not  a  little  to  the  distress  of  his  com 
mander,  who,  having  sent  home  Armand's  corps  as  no  longer  to  be  depended 
upon  after  their  conduct  at  Gates'  defeat,  and  having  sent  off  all  Washington's 
cavalry  with  Morgan,  had  not  a  horseman  with  his  army. 

In  Maryland,  General  Greene  had  made  a  requisition  of  seventy-five  cavalry 
horses,  and  sundry  equipments  for  the  legion,  and  the  liberal  spirit  in  which 
the  requisition  was  complied  with,  gave  Lee  an  opportunity  of  equipping  his 
cavalry  in  a  brilliant  style.  In  Virginia  they  were  reviewed  and  completed  by 
Steuben,  and  moved  on,  at  the  same  time  with  a  body  of  recruits  under  Colo 
nel  Greene. 

Major  General  Baron  Steuben  is  little  known  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  in  any  other  character  than  the  man  to  whom  they  were  indebted  for 
the  discipline  of  the  army.  Had  he  never  rendered  any  other  service  than  this, 
those  who  are  sensible  of  its  indispensable  nature,  would  acknowledge  him 
entitled  to  lasting  gratitude.  But  he  has  a  higher  claim  on  the  affections  of 
this  country;  this  was  the  ardent  zeal  with  which  he  was  animated  in  its  ser 
vice,  and  the  indefatigable  spirit  with  which  he  struggled  against  difficulties, 
(the  extent  of  which  is  known  to  those  only  who  peruse  his  letters,)  when  pro 
moting  the  interests  of  the  cause  of  the  revolution.  Those  letters  exhibit  him 
as  a  man  of  a  warm  and  amiable  heart  —  a  clear,  unclouded  mind  —  and  of 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE,  653 

perseverance,  that  no  injury  could  disgust,  no  obstacle  turn  aside,  while  labour-  CHAP.- 
ing  to  emancipate  his  adopted  country. 

,  To  these  motives  were  added  that  of  a  strong  personal  attachment  in 
stimulating  his  efforts  to  serve  die  southern  commander.  Unfortunately,  his 
zeal  involved  him  in  the  sequel  in  die  mortification  of  giving  great  disgust  to 
Virginia,  and  the  lips  of  many  were  closed  by  state  or  individual  resentment, 
who  could  best  have  testified  to  his  zeal  and  sen-ices.  He  had  the  hardihood 
to  assert,  "  that  the  war  could  not  be  carried  on  by  militia,"  and  to  express  his 
feelings  when  he  thought  his  friend  and  commander  abandoned  before  Ninety- 
Six;  and  the  injury  sunk  deep. 

But  his  patience  had  repeatedly  before  been  severely  tried.  It  was  so  in  a 
high  degree,  about  diis  time. 

O  O  * 

Virginia  had  now  collected  about  a  thousand  recruits,  who  could  not  be 
sent  into  the  field  from  mere  nakedness.  But  very  extensive  powers  had 
lately  been  delegated  to  Governor  Jefferson,  and  he  proved  himself  worthy  of 
public  confidence  by  daring  to  exercise  those  powers.  In  order  to  clothe  their 
soldiers,  he  was  compelled  to  resort  to  an  impress  warrant,  and  from  the 
articles  thus  procured,  Steuben  was  able,  by  the  1st  of  December,  to  equip 
400  of  the  recruits,  enlisted  for  eighteen  months,  (a  great  part  of  which  was 
already  expired,)  in  a  condition  fit  to  be  marched  for  the  southern  army.  But 
even  then,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  all  the  clotliing  he  could  procure  for  each, 
consisted  of  one  jacket  with  sleeves,  one  shirt,  a  pair  of  line n  overalls,  a  knap 
sack,  a  blanket,  and  a  pair  of  shoes.* 

This  detachment  together  with  Lav,  son's  corps,  supposed  to  contain  oOO 
men,  were  put  under  marching  orders  for  the  3d  of  the  month  from  Peters 
burg;  and  in  high  spirits,  Steuben  had  written  to  his  commander,  that  he 
should  forward  on  to  him  a  reinforcement  of  1200  men,  consisting  of  Lcc's 
and  Lawson's  legions,  and  the  400  recruits,  to  enable  Greene  to  meet  the 
enemy's  reinforcement  under  General  Leslie.  Steuben  was  fully  sensible  of 
the  importance  of  time,  not  only  for  die  purpose  of  giving  strength  to  the 
southern  army,  but  to  anticipate  any  interruption  to  the  ir. arching  of  these 
troops  from  another  invasion  of  Virginia;  an  event  by  no  means  improbable 
or  distant,  from  the  state  of  intelligence  from  New  York, — and  an  apprehension 
which  subsequent  events  proved  was  perfectly  well  founded,  for  these  troops 
finally  moved  off  barely  in  time  to  avoid  being  detained  to  oppose  Arnold. 


*  Steuben,  loth  December  1700. 


356  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

% 

CHAP.  A  reader  must  have  been  acquainted  with  die  military  feelings  and  habits  ol 
IX"  Europe,  to  form  an  adequate  idea  of  the  chagrin  of  a  disciple  of  the  great 
Frederick,  at  finding  that  on  the  day  appointed,  not  a  man  could  be  marched 
from  the  ground.  Only  one  half  of  Lawson's  corps  paraded,  and  they  were 
ordered  by  the  legislature  of  Virginia  to  be  discharged,  because  their  term  of 
service  was  far  advanced  to  a  termination ;  and  the  officers  of  the  detachment 
of  recruits  had  sent  in  a  remonstancc  to  the  legislature  for  certain  ill-usage 
complained  of,  which  must  be  redressed  before  they  were  ready  to  march. 
u  You  may  suppose,"  observes  die  baron,  "  I  was  exceedingly  shocked  at  such 
a  procedure."* 

,  It  was  in  vain  to  struggle  against  the  dde  that  opposed  him ;  to  attempt  the 
exertion  of  positive  authority  might  produce  absolute  insurrection,  and  after 
•trying  every  thing  that  remonstrances  and  negociadons  could  suggest,  he  was 
obliged  to  acquiesce. 

Lawson's  corps  was  discharged,  and  die  400  recruits  detained  ijntil  the 
middle  of  the  month,  diat  the  officers  might  setde  their  differences  with  the 
government. 

On  the  15th,  however,  Steuben  had  the  happiness  to  see  Col.  Greene  with 
400  men,  and  Colonel  Lee  with  his  legion  of  300,  move  off  for  the  southern 
army.  On  the  12th  of  January,  they  reached  the  encampment  on  Pee  Dee, 
•where  Lee  had  been  for  some  time  impatiently  expected,  to  carry  into  effect  a 
plan  of  operation  projected  against  Georgetown. 

Among  other  inducements  for  taking  the  posidon  on  the  Pee  Dee,  was,  that 
it  placed  die  army  directly  in  die  rear  of  Marion,  and  whilst  it  gave  counte- 
jiance  to  his  operations  and  inspirited  the  whigs  on  the  Pee  Dee  and  Black 
rivers,  secured  to  tLe  commander  the  earliest  and  most  direct  intelligence  of 
the  movements  of  the  enemy  in  the  low  country,  and  the  occurrences  in 
Charleston.  For  this  kind  of  information,  General  Greene  relied  altogether 
upon  Marion.  At  his  first  arrival  in  Charlotte,  on  the  day  he  took  command, 
Greene  had  addressed  the  latter  on  the  subject,  requesting  that  he  would  devote 
himself  particularly  to  the  important  care  qf  gathering  intelligence.  "  I  have 
not  die  honour  of  your  acquaintance,"  say?  the  wrriter,  "  but  am  no  stranger 
to  your  character  and  merit.  Your  services  in  die  lower  part  of  South  Caro 
lina,  in  awing  the  tories  and  preventing  the  enemy  from  extending  their  limits, 
have  been  very  important  And  it  is  my  earnest  desire  that  you  continue 
where  you  are,  until  furdier  advice  from  me.  Your  letter  of  the  22d  last  month 


*  Steuben,  4th  December  1780, 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  357 

to  General  Gates,  is  before  me.  I  am  fully  sensible  your  service  is  hard  and  CHAP. 
sufferings  great,  but  how  great  the  prize  for  which  we  contend!  I  like 
plan  of  frequently  shifting  your  ground.  It  frequently  prevents  a  surprise,  and 
perhaps  the  total  loss  of  your  party.  Until  a  more  permanent  army  can  be 
collected  than  is  in  the  field  at  present,  we  must  endeavour  to  keep  up  a  parti 
san  war,  and  preserve  the  tide  of  sentiment  among  the  people  in  our"  favour  as 
much  as  possible.  Spies  are  the  eyes  of  an  army,  and  without  them  a  general 
is  always  groping  in  the  dark,  and  can  neither  secure  himself,  nor  annoy  his 
.enemy.  At  present,  I  am  badly  off  for  intelligence.  It  is  of  the  highest  'im 
portance  that  I  get  the  earliest  intelligence  of  any  reinforcement  which  may 
arrive  at  Charleston.  I  wish  you,  therefore,  to  fi\  some  plan  for  procuring 
such  information  and  conveying  it  to  me,  with  all  possible  dispatch.  The  spy 
should  be  taught  to  be  particular  in  his  inquiries  and  get  the  names  of  the 
corps,  strength,  and  commanding  officer's  name,  place  from  whence  they 
came,  and  where  they  are  going.  It  will  be  best  to  fix  upon  somebody  in 
town  to  do  this,  and  have  a  runner  between  you  and  him  to  give  you  the 
intelligence,  as  a  person  who  lives  out  of  town  canot  make  the  inquiries,  with 
out  being  suspected.  The  utmost  secrecy  will  be  necessary  in  this  business," 


This  letter  found  Marion  at  one  of  his  lurking  places  on  Black  River,*  and 
as  he  had  never  been  without  his  spies  and  runners,  every  occurrence  in 
Georgetown  and  Charleston  was  early  known  and  promptly  communicated.  . 
Yet  he  complains  grievously  of  the  embarrassment  arising  from  the  want  of 
hard  money  to  assist  his  emissaries  in  communicating  with  the  enemy's  posts  ; 
—  a  want  which  his  communder  was  very  far  from  being  able  to  supply. 

The  last  exploit  related  of  Marion's,  it  will  be  recollected,  was  his  liberating 
a  detachment  of  prisoners  taken  at  the  defeat  of  Gates.  Through  the  whole 
course  of  his  operations,  it  was  his  practice  never  to  rest  long  in  a  place  where 
he  had  done  mischief.  This  is  known  to  be  a  habit  of  Indian  warfare,  a 
nation  known  to  excell  in  wariness  and  stratagem.  After  seeing  his  prisoners 
in  safety  over  the  Pee  Dee,  Marion  renewed  his  persecutions  on  the  enemy 
on  both  sides  the  Santee,  directing  his  operations  against  the  parties  commu 
nicating  between  Camden  and  Charleston,  and  die  boats  transporting  supplies 
between  Granby  and  Charleston. 

At  the  time  when  General  Greene  moved  down  to  the  Cheraws,  Marion 
had  been  engaged  in  some  very  active  movements  against  a  party  under 


•  Marion,  22d  December  1780. 


358  -MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  M'Arthur  and  Coffin,  about  Nelson's  Ferry,  and  between  that  and  the  High 
•^^v^/  Hills  of  Santee;  and  with  the  hope  to  cut  off  his  retreat  by  the  Pee  Dee,  a 
strong  detachment  had  been  pushed  on  from  Charleston  to  Georgetown,  in 
tended  to  interrupt  him  by  ascending  the  north  bank  of  the  Pee  Dee  River. 
But  Marion  soon  received  intelligence  of  this  movement,  and  divining  its  ob 
ject,  retired  across  the  country  and  took  a  strong  position  on  the  north  bank  of 
Lynch's  Creek,  in  the  vicinity  of  his  favourite  retreat  at  Snow's  Island,  where 
he  always  kept  a  party  to  guard  his  boats  and  awe  the  loyalists. 

From  this  place  he  communicated  to  General  Greene,  on  the  27th  of  De 
cember,  the  arrival  of  General  Leslie,  and  successively  his  march  for  Camden 
— the  return  of  the  detachment  which  had  marched  to  Georgetown — and  the 
establishment  of  Colonel  Watson  near  Nelson's  Ferry,  with  about  two  hun 
dred  men. 

The  retirement  of  the  detachment  from  Georgetown  left  Marion  once  more 
at  liberty  to  resume  active  operations.  In  a  short  time,  his  parties  were  pushed 
down  near  to  the  town  on  all  the  rivers  that  flow  into  the  Winyaw  Bay,  and 
employed  in  collecting  boats  and  removing  provisions  up  to  Snow's  Island. 
This  was  with  the  double  purpose  of  supplying  the  army  above  him,  and  of 
straitening  the  enemy  in  his  movements  and  resources.  In  the  mean  time, 
with  a  respectable  force  of  mounted  infantry,  he  pressed  close  to  the  town  him 
self,  watching  an  opportunity  to  attack  them  in  that  place.  But  they  confined 
.  themselves  to  their  redoubts,  and  he  had  neither  bayonets  nor  artillery  to  at 
tempt  carrying  their  works.  With  one  hundred  continental  troops,  he  informs 
the  southern  commander,  he  should  be  able  to  render  important  services. 

Whilst  thus  employed,  he  received  intelligence  that  the  loyalists,  emboldened 
by  the  main  army's  being  destitute  of  cavalry,  were  embodying  above  him 
under  the  celebrated  Hector  M'Neal.  This  was  at  Amie's  Mill  on  the  Drown 
ing  Creek.  To  detach  a  force  sufficient  to  disperse  him,  was  not  in  Marion's 
power,  and  to  suffer  them  to  come  upon  him  whilst  his  detachments  were  dis 
persed,  must  prove  destructive.  lie  therefore  resolved  to  call  in  his  detach 
ments,  and  communicate  to  the  commanding  general  the  necessity  to  reinforce 
him  against  his  increasing  enemies,  and  to  look  to  the  movements  of  M'Neal, 
as  he  supposed  them  to  be  in  part  directed  against  the  country  between  the 
Waccamaw  and  scacoast,  which  had  never  been  foraged,  and  contained  at  this 
time  abundance  of  provision. 

This  was  the  situation  of  things  when  Colonel  Lee  reached  the  American 
camp,  and  the  moderate  speed  of  his  movements  leaving  the  legion  in  the  finest 
order  for  service,  lie  was  immediately  placed  under  marching  orders  to  join 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  539 

Marion;    while  a  detachment  of  light  troops  under  Major  Anderson,   was   CHAP. 
ordered  to  prepare  far  a  movement  against  the  loyalists  at  Amie's  Mills.  s-*-v^- 

Colonel  Lee  reached  Marion's  camp  on  the  23d,  and  on  the  24th  a  com 
bined  attempt  was  made  to  surprise  Georgetown.  Marion  furnished  guides, 
boats,  and  intelligence,  and  Captain  Carnes,  with  the  infantry  of  the  legion, 
undertook  the  enterprise.  The  enemy  had  no  apprehension  of  an  attack  by 
water,  and  were  wholly  unprepared  to  repel  it. 

The  banks  of  the  Pee  Dee,  closely  covered  with  woods  and  deep  swamps, 
afforded  a  perfect  covering  to  Captain  Carnes,  as  he  fell  silently  down  the 
river  and  occupied  an  island  at  its  mouth,  within  a  few  miles  of  the  site  of 
Georgetown.  The  rear  of  this  place  was  wholly  undefended,  and  danis  run 
ning  through  die  rice-fields,  which  extend  from  the  rear  of  the  town  to  the 
river,  afforded  easy  access  to  it  on  the  south-cast. 

On  the  island  at  which  they  had  landed,  the  American  party  lay  concealed 
until  one  o'clock  of  the  25tli,  when,  under  the  darkness  of  night,  they  landed 
undiscovered,  and  entered  the  town  before  any  alarm  was  given. 

Yet  the  enterprise  proved  unsuccessful ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  determine  the  cause, 
for  we  find  the  failure  variously  accounted  for.  Colonel  Lee,  in  his  Memoirs, 
attributes  it  to  an  error  in  the  plan,  and  assigns  as  the  cause  that  both  columns 
in  which  the  party  entered  were  ordered  to  observe  die  parade  ground,  where 
it  was  expected  the  troops  would  assemble  upon  the  alarm ;  whereas  one  of 
the  columns  ought  to  have  been  ordered  to  carry  the  fort  with  the  bayonet. 
But  this  varies  materially  from  his  official  account  of  the  affair,  in  which  he 
says,  "  Destitute  of  the  expected  assistance,  my  force  was  inadequate  to  the 
assault  of  the  enemy's  enclosed  works,  nor  was  the  possession  equivalent  to  the 
certain  loss  to  be  expected  from  such  a  measure."  And  again :  "  The  blunder 
of  the  guides  prevented  a  full  correspondence  in  the  movements  of  the  cavalry 
and  infantry,  by  which  mistakes  we  w.cre  in  some  degree  baflled  in  the  import 
ant  consequences  which  the  prowess  of  the  infantry  gave  aright  to  expect." 

But  Marion  says,  "  Colonel  Lee  informed  yoa  yesterday  by  express,  of  our 
little  success  on  Georgetown,  which  could  not  be  greater  without  artillery" 

General  Moultric,  on  the  other  hand,  says,  "  In  this  hurry  and  confusion  the 
guides  got  so  alarmed  and  frightened  that  they  lost  their  way  to  the  fort,  where 
the  main  body  of  the  British  were  quartered,  or  else  the  surprise  would  have 
been  complete."  And  again.  "  By  this  time,  the  enemy  began  embodying, 
and  the  firing  being  heard  from  different  parts  of  the  town,  and  General  Ma 
rion  and  Colonel  Lee  not  entering  the  town  at  the  same  time,  Captains  Carnes 
and  Rudulph  thought  it  proper  to  retreat."  "  The  cavalry  under  General 
Marion  and  Colonel  Lee  did  not  arrive  [during  the  action ;]  and  as  they  met 


SGO  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  with  a  breastwork  not  easily  to  be  mounted,  they  proceeded  no  farther,  parti- 
v^^v^^/  cularly  as  the  infantry  had  already  retreated." 

This  probably,  was  "  the  want  of  due  co-operation"  between  the  cavalry 
and  infantry  to  which  Colonel  Lee  alludes,  in  his  letter;  and  it  agrees  with 
contemporaneous  accounts,  which  represent  the  cavalry  as  having  never  en 
tered  the  town,  and  the  failure  as  attributable  to  the  attention  of  the  attacking 
party  having  been  drawn 'away  from  capital  objects  to  the  minor  one  of  catch 
ing  the  commanding  officer,  Colonel  Campbell,  in  his  bed,  and  pursuing  the 
fugitives,  who  ran  in'  confusion  about  the  streets.  This  account  is  also  corro 
borated  by  a  passage  in  Colonel  Lee's  letter  to  General  Greene  in  which  he 
says  "?»Iany  were  killed,  few  taken;  among  the  former  is  Major  Irvine,  among 
the  latter,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Campbell,  the  commander  of  the  garrison." 
That  Colonel  Lee  was  in  no  wise  satisfied  with  the  issue  of  the  enterprise, 
appeal's  from  a  letter  of  his  of  die  27th,  in  which  he  says,  "  I  congratulate  you 
from  my  soul,  on  the  glorious  victory  obtained  by  General  Morgan;  I  wish 
my  fortune  had  been  equally  propitious,  as  then  Lord  Cornwallis  must  have 
been  exceedingly  distressed." 

An  assertion  of  which  there  cannot  be  the  remotest  doubt.  For  the  great 
object  of  the  commanding  general  in  dispatching  Lee  to  operate  with  Marion, 
would  then  most  probably  have  been  attained.  This  was  to  draw  the  enemy's 
attention  towards  the  safety  of  bis  posts  in  the  low  country,  and  check  his 
advance  against  Morgan ;  whom  to  have  pursued  to  any  distance  would  have 
left  his  line  of  posts  along  the  Santee  up  to  Ninety-Six  exposed  to  destruction. 
Nor  would  complete  success  have  b/?en  of  little  importance  in  another  view. 
Besides  the  military  stores  and  prisoners  that  would  have  fallen  into  their 
hands,  the  plan  would  have  afforded  clothing  to  a  considerable  amount,  and 
the  fall  of  Georgetown  would  certainly  have  produced  an  effect  upon  the  public 
mind  which  the  arrival  of  ell  the  reinforcements  under  Leslie  would  not  have 
been  more  than  sufficient  to  counteract. 

Nevertheless  the  attempt  was  brilliant — the  spirit  displayed  in  its  execution 
served  to  raise  the  reputation  of  the  American  arms,  and  checked  the  forward 
ing  of  reinforcements  to  the  British  army,  by  exposing  the  necessity  of  strength 
ening  their  garrisons  below.  A  considerable  reinforcement  to  Georgetown 
was  forwarded  from  the  metropolis  the  moment  die  narrow  escape  of  that 
place  was  known. 

The  surprise  of  Georgetown  was  not  a  simple  coup  de-main;  it  was  the  first 
step  in  gradation  of  the  measures  which  General  Greene  had  then  in  contem 
plation.  The  object  which  he  proposed  to  himself  was  to  recall  Lord  Corn 
wallis  from  his  views  on  Virginia  and  to  detain  him  in  South  Carolina  until 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  361 

an  army  could  be  collected  and  equipped  of  sufficient  strength  to  penetrate  into   ciur. 
the  country  and  fight  him.  v^-v^> 

This  plan  of  operations  is  distinctly  avowed  in  his  correspondence  in  Oc 
tober;  and  although  the  celebrated  descent  into  South  Carolina  in  the  April 
following,  has  been  treated  of  as  an  idea  then  first  presented  to  the  general's 
mind,  it  constituted  in  January,  the  subject  of  a  correspondence  between 
Greene,  Morgan,  Marion  and  Lee.  The  project  was  for  Morgan  to  pass  on 
towards  Ninety-Six,  and  even  into  Georgia,  while  a  detachment  ascended  the 
Santee  and  formed  a  junction  with  him  before  Ninety-Six,  and  the  main  army 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  enemy  by  threatening  Camden. 

The  advance  of  Colonel  Lee  at  this  time,  and  his  junction  with  Marion,  had 
Expressly  in  contemplation  a  blow  at  the  posts  on  the  Santee  and  Congaree, 
with  a  view  of  feeling  the  operation  of  the  measure  on  the  future  movements 
of  Lord  Cornwallis,  as  well  as  to  injure  him  by  their  actual  destruction. 

In  a  letter  of  General  Greene's  to  Marion,  of  the  25th,  before  the  news  of 
the  victory  of  the  Cowpens  was  received,  the  general  writes,  "  I  wish  to  have 
your  opinion  of  the  practicability  of  crossing  the  Santee  with  a  party  of  three 
or  four  hundred  horse,  and  whether  they  would  be  much  exposed  by  being  in 
the  rear  of  the  enemy ; — also  whether  the  party  could  not  make  good  their 
retreat,  if  it  should  be  necessary,  and  join  our  people  towards  Ninety-Six.  If 
the  thing  is  practicable,  can  your  people  be  engaged  to  perform  the  service? 
It  may  be  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance,  connected  with  other  move 
ments,  and  therefore  I  beg  you  to  give  me  all  the  information  upon  the  sub 
ject  vou  can,  without  hinting  the  design  to  any  person  whatever,  except  Colonel 
Leey  whom  I  wish  you  to  advise  with,"  &c.  And  Colonel  Lee,  on  the  30th, 
writes,  "  In  your  letter  of  the  26th,  you  suggest  an  idea  of  a  vciy  extensive 
movement,  and  intimate  a  desire  for  a  correspondent  movement  in  me,  at  the 
proper  moment  if  practicable.  My  part  of  the  game  can  be  played,  and  in 
mv  opinion,  will  be  of  the  most  durable  and  comprehensive  service."  "  I 
pray  to  hear  from  you,  and  beg  you  to  cherish  the  movement  mentioned  in. 
yours  of  the  26th,"  &c. 

In  the  orders  under  which  Colonel  Lee  marched  to  join  Marion,  he  was 
instructed  to  direct  his  attention,  first  to  the  surprise  of  Georgetown,  and  then 
to  an  attempt  on  Watson,  who  had  taken  post  at  Nelson's  Ferry ;  and,  notwith 
standing  Marion  expresses  strong  doubts  of  the  practicability  of  succeeding 
against  Watson,  the  general  still  urges  him  to  attempt  it.  Thus  too,  in  a  letter 
to  General  Sumpter  of  the  3d  February,  General  Greene  says,  "  I  agree  with 
you  in  opinion,  that  if  proper  measures  are  taken,  the  enemy  may  be  made 
apprehensive  for  his  rear.  For  this  purpose,  I  desired  General  Marion  to 

46      x 


362  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP  cross  the  Santee  if  possible  ;  and  in  order  to  pave  the  way  for  this  sen  ice,  I 
\^r~v~\^>  desired  Lieutenant  Colonel  Lee  to  surprise  Georgetown,*  that  the  militia  of 
that  quarter  might  be  left  more  at  liberty  to  cross  the  river."  Accordingly, 
after  the  attempt  on  Georgetown,  Marion  and  Lee  halted  but  a  few  hours  to 
rest  their  troops,  and  moved  the  same  day  directly  up  the  north  bank  of  the 
Santcc  towards  Nelson's  Ferry.  But  Watson  did  not  wait  to  receive  them; 
after  throwing  a  garrison  of  about  eighty  men  into  Fort  Watson,  five  miles 
above  the  ferry,  he  moved  off  to  Camden.  An  attempt  was  then  made  to 
throw  a  detachment  of  dragoons  across  the  river,  with  orders  to  ascend  its 
south  bank  and  destroy  the  enemy's  stores  at  Colonel  Thomson's,  and  some 
other  depots  on  the  Congaree.  Some  delay  ensued  from  the  want  of  boats, 
but  the  detachment  was  out  on  that  service,  when  Colonel  Lee  was  recalled, 
with  orders  to  hasten  to  Salisbury  and  join  Morgan,  then  retreating  before 
Lord  Coniwallis. 

The  route  which  Morgan  pursued  from  Charlotte,  led  across  the  Catawba 
at  Biggin's  Ferry,  below  the  mouth  of  die  Little  Catawba,  and  across  the 
Broad  River,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Pacolet.  On  the  banks  of  the  Pacolet 
he  took  post  on  the  25th  December,  and  was  soon  after  joined  by  about  220 
mounted  militia  from  North  and  South  Carolina. 

The  state  of  things  in  that  country  was  at  this  time,  highly  favourable  to 
this  expedition.  The  whigs,  it  will  be  recollected,  had,  after  the  fall  of 
Charleston,  been  obliged  to  submit  and  give  their  paroles  to  remain  inactive. 
The  pledge  on  the  other  side  was,  protection  to  their  property  and  families. 
The  arbitrary  and  oppressive  conduct  of  the  enemy  had  satisfied  them  all,  that 
the  protection  promised  them  could  not  or  would  not  be  afforded,  and  a  very 
general  disposition  prevailed  among  them  to  resume  their  arms.  General 
Pickens  who,  among  the  rest  had  been  compelled  to  submit,  nowr  resolved  to 
lead  the  way  in  exciting  the  well-affected  to  the  American  cause,  to  brave  all 
the  hazards  of  taking  the  field.  Clarke  and  Twiggs,  after  the  battle  of  Black- 
stocks,  had  kept  together  a  small  body  of  their  followers,  and  moving  along  in 
the  rear  of  the  whig-settlements  towards  Georgia,  they  presented  a  favourable 
opportunity  to  the  inhabitants  to  carry  their  resolution  into  effect.  General 
Pickens  and  Colonel  M'Call,  at  the  head  of  about  one  hundred  men,  took  the 
field,  and  sending  off  their  families  and  slaves  over  the  mountains  for  security, 
they  proceeded  to  join  Morgan.  Hundreds  of  others  were  ready  to  follow 
the  example,  and  only  waited  a  favourable  opportunity  to  effect  their  purpose. 
The  whigs  of  Mecklenberg  also  began  to  assemble,  and  General  Davidson 

*  Yet  Colonel  Lee  takes  the  credit  of  this  surprise  altogether  to  himself. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  363 

having  collected  about  one  hundred  and  twenty,  marched  them  to  Morgan's   CITAP. 
camp,  and  by  returning  to  hasten  on  500  more  who  were  embodying,  he  lost  ^r^-^, 
the  honour  of  participating  in  the  victory  of  the  Cowpens. 

On  the  second  day  after  Morgan's  arrival  on  the  Pacolet,  an  opportunity  for 
enterprise  presented  itself,  which  was  promptly  embraced.  A  body  of  loyalists 
had  advanced  from  the  banks  of  the  Savannah  to  Eair  Forest  Creek,  to  check 
the  spirit  of  disaffection  which  had  began  to  manifest  itself,  and  had  com 
menced  their  depredations  upon  the  settlements  on  that  stream.  Their  dis 
tance  was  about  twenty  miles  in  advance  of  Morgan's  in  the  direction  towards 
Ninety-Six,  and  their  number  was  reported  at  250. 

Colonel  Washington  with  his  cavalry,  75  in  number,  but  of  very  superior 
quality,  and  200  mounted  militia  under  Colonel  M'Call,  were  dispatched  to 
dislodge  this  body  of  loyalists.  The  latter  receiving  intelligence  of  the  ap 
proach  of  Washington,  retreated  about  twenty  miles,  to  a  place  called  Ham 
mond's  Store,  where  being  covered  as  they  supposed,  on  their  right  by  Lord 
Cornwallis  at  Wmnsborough,  and  on  their  left  by  the  post  at  Ninety-Six,  they 
halted  in  mistaken  security.  Washington  pressed  the  pursuit  with  such  dili 
gence  that  he  overtook  them  early  the  next  day  after  a  march  of  forty  miles, 
and  instantly  ordered  a  charge.  It  was  a  flight  and  not  a  conflict  that  ensued, 
and  we  regret  to  state  that  the  killed  and  wounded  were  reported  at  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty,  and  the  prisoners  at  forty.  Such  were  the  bloody  sacrifices  at 
that  time  offered  up  at  the  shrine  of  civil  discord!  Posterity  will  never  con 
ceive  an  adequate  idea  of  the  dreadful  state  of  society  then  prevailing  in  that 
unhappy  country.  Yet  let  not  unmerited  censure  fall  on  the  officers  who 
commanded.*  Men  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  giving  no  quarters  natu 
rally  expected  none,  and  in  their  flight  the  unerring  rifle  brought  many  of  them 
to  the  ground.  There  was  little  time  for  hesitation  or  room  for  pursuit,  for 
Washington  was  now  so  far  advanced  between  the  enemy's  posts,  and  so  near 
Colonel  Tarleton  at  the  head  of  250  cavalry,  that  prompt  measures  alone 
could  insure  his  safety.  Yet  he  would  not  let  another  opportunity  of  service 
escape  him,  though  it  brought  him  still  nearer  to  the  enemy.  At  a  place 
called  Williams,  General  Cunningham  was  at  this  time  posted  with  about 
150  men,  in  a  stockade  fort  which,  without  the  aid  of  artillery,  could  only  be 
carried  by  surprise.  Thither,  Colonel  Hayes  at  the  head  of  a  detachment  of 
the  infantry,  and  Cornet  Simmons  with  a  command  of  the  cavalry,  were 
instantly  dispatched.  But  intelligence  of  Washington's  approach  had  pre 
ceded  the  party,  and  the  garrison  were  retiring  precipitately  as  the  Americans 


*  Morgan,  30th  December  1780. 


<U  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  came  in  view  of  the  fort.     A  few  of  the  British  party  were  killed  and  taken, 

IX. 

the  fort  destroyed. 

Morgan's  fears  were  somewhat  excited  for  the  safety  of  Washington,  on 
hearing  the  distance  to  which  he  had  penetrated  between  the  enemy's  posts, 
and  his  whole  force  was  now  advanced  to  cover  him  on  his  return  to  camp. 
But  he  reached  the  army  in  safety,  and  Morgan  resumed  his  post  on  the  north 
of  the  Pacolet,  carefully  shitting  his  encampment  every  night  to  guard  against 
-surprise. 

The  effect  of  Morgan's  advance  and  Washington's  enterprizes,  soon  began 
to  be  sensibly  felt  by  Lord  Coruwallis,  in  their  effects  upon  popular  sentiment. 
Why  measures  w  ere  not  more  promptly  adopted  to  drive  him  off  or  destroy 
him,  must  probably  be  attributed  to  the  hope  of  entrapping  him.  As  soon  as 
it  appeared  that  he  had  again  established  himself  on  ihe  Pacolet,  with  a  view 
to  collect  and  embody  his  militia  preparatory  to  ulterior  movements,  Lieute 
nant  Colonel  Tarlcton  was  detached  with  orders,  as  he  expresses  it  himself, 
"  to  push  Morgan  to  the  utmost." 

.  Lord  Cornwallis  had  been  for  some  time  preparing  to  prosecute  his  designs 
upon  Virginia ;  the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements  under  Leslie,  was  the  event 
on  which  his  getting  into  motion  depended.  That  officer  was  now  on  his 
inarch  to  Camden,  a  destination  which,  his  lordship  informs  us,  was  intended 
to  hold  Greene  in  suspense  as  to  his  future  movements.  But  how  the  advance 
of  a  reinforcement  to  Camden  could  produce  this  effect,  it  is  not  easy  to  ima 
gine!  Nor  could  it  be  of  any  importance  to  hold  him  in  doubt  after  the 
movement  to  Pee  Dee ;  for,  whether  the  intention  was  to  push  him,  or  to  pass 
him,  he  was  equally  prepared  to  fall  back  upon  his  reinforcements,  until  he 
could  turn  upon  his  pursuers.  For  the  purpose  of  meeting  either  movement, 
his  position  was  admirably  calculated ;  and  it  combined  with  that  advantage, 
the  additional  one  of  threatening  the  right  flank  and  rear  of  the  enemy. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  original  designs  of  the  British  commander,  it 
is  very  certain  that  his  actual  movements,  if  not  governed,  were  materially 
controlled  by  those  of  his  adversary.  For  the  posts  of  Camden  and  Ninety- 
Six  were  those  which  kept  both  North  and  South  Carolina  in  awe,  and 
•while  the  advance  of  Morgan  threatened  the  latter,  the  position  of  Greene 
looked  so  directly  towards  the  former,  that  the  safety  of  both  became  sub 
jects  of  uneasiness  to  the  British  commander.  As  these  places  were  in 
tended  to  be  left  shortly  to  their  own  protection  and  that  of  the  loyalists, 
they  were  at  this  time,  filled  with  all  the  munitions  necessary  to  the  pro 
secution  of  the  war.  Lord  Cornwallis,  therefore,  determined  to  divide 
.his  force;  to  press  forward  one  detachment  under  Tarleton  to  destroy  Mor- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  365 

gan,  or  drive  him  out  of  the  state;  and  as  he  doubted  not  that  the  latter  CHAP. 
must  be  compelled  to  fight,  or  fly  towards  Virginia,  it  was  intended  to  move  <^~v~^s 
rapidly  forward  himself,  so  as  to  cut  him  off  from  the  place  of  his  retreat ; 
whilst  Leslie,  by  marching  up  the  east  side  of  the  Catawba  River,  would 
effectually  prevent  Greene  from  advancing  to  Morgan's  support. 

All  this  well -digested  plan  was  deranged  by  the  unexpected  event  of  the 
battle  of  the  Cowpens,  or  by  causes  preceding  it. 

Poetry,  oratory,  religion,  have  concurred  in  addressing  die  Supreme  Being 
as  the  God  of  armies,  and  it  would  seem  that  military  events  were  peculiarly 
the  subject  of  a  particular  providence.  Mortifying  would  it  be  to  human 
vanity  or  ambition,  if  those  who  guide  the  destiny  of  nations,  would  pause  and 
reflect  with  candour,  how  often  the  fate  of  battles  depends  upon  single,  unex 
pected,  and  even  minute  incidents.  Discipline,  as  it  reduces  more  than  any 
other  cause  the  number  of  these  contingencies,  is  the  on)y  reliance  on  which 
mature  experience  will  calculate  with  confidence. 

It  is  not  easy  to  determine  with  precision,  the  number  of  troops  with  which 
the  British  commander  commenced  operations  in  January  1781.  Contempo 
raneous  information  on  such  a  point  is  seldom  to  be  depended  upon.  There 
are  great  temptations,  or  delusive  prepossessions  always  influencing  command 
ers  and  historians,  to  give  an  inaccurate  estimate  of  rival  forces  and  rival  losses. 
Whether  it  be  to  exult  in  a  victory,  or  apologize  for  a  defeat,  the  mind  leans  to 
diminution  on  one  side,  and  exaggeration  on  the  other;  and  perhaps  it  is  only 
when  facts  are  wrung  out  by  contention,  or  the  secrets  of  the  cabinet  fearlessly 
explored,  that  we  can  look  confidently  for  truth.  When  misfortune  over 
whelmed  the  British  commanders  engaged  in  this  expedition,  mutual  jealousies 
and  criminations  arose,  and  these  disputes  put  the  world  in  possession  of  per 
haps,  the  only  evidence  that  can  be  relied  on,  on  the  point  of  numbers.  This 
is  to  be  found  in  the  private  and  confidential  correspondence  of  the  time,  as 
exhibited  in  a  publication  by  Lord  Cornwallis,  entitled,  "  An  answer  to  that 
part  of  the  narrative  of  Lieutenant  General  Sir  Henri/  Clinton,  K.  B.  which  re 
lates  to  the  conduct  of  Lieutenant  General  Earl  CornwalUs,  during  the  campaign 
in  North  America  in  the  near  1781 ;"  and  in  the  notes  to  Tarleton's  Campaigns, 
inserted  to  support  many  of  the  historical  facts  related  in  the  work  of  Sir 
Henry  Clinton. 

'Referring  to  these  sources  of  information,  we  find  an  official  return,  making 
the  British  force  under  Cornwallis,  comprising  the  three  detachments  then  in 
the  field,  to  amount  to  3V224  men.  But  as  official  returns  are  liable  to  many 
of  the  objections  which  may  be  urged  against  the  authenticity  of  other  official 
information,  it  may  be  proper  to  remark,  that  Cornwallis,  in  a  letter  of  the 


360  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  18th  December,  written  at  Winnsborough,  when  the  reinforcement  under 
v^^v-^,  Leslie  was  not  expected  at  that  place,  says,  "  I  have  a  good  account  of  our 
recruits  in  general,  and  hope  to  march  from  hence  three  thousand  Jive  hund/fd 
fighting  men,  leaving  those  I  mentioned  to  you  on  the  frontiers."  And  in  a 
letter  of  April  30th,  1781,  from  Sir  Henry  Clinton  to  Earl  Cornwallis,  is  con 
tained  the  following  passage:  "By  the  distribution  sent  me  in  your  letter  of 
the  6th  January,  I  am  to  suppose,  it  was  your  intention  to  take  with  you  the 
regiments  mentioned  in  the  margin,  which,  (notwithstanding  the  loss  of  the 
71st  and  legion,  in  the  unfortunate  affair  of  the  Cowpens,)  I  should  have  ima 
gined  must  have  amounted  to  considerably  above  3000,  exclusive  of  cavalry  and 
militia."  If  the  opinion  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  is  to  be  relied  on,  (and  it  would 
seem  that  the  information  of  the  commander  in  chief  is  the  least  questionable,) 
it  would  follow,  that  the  force  with  which  die  British  commander  took  the 
field  in  this  campaign,  considerably  exceeded  the  number  of  4,000,  which  is 
greatly  above  die  usual  estimate.  The  names  of  the  several  corps  that  marched 
under  him  are  accurately  known;  these  were,  the  brigade  of  guards,  regiment 
of  Bose,  Hamilton's  regiment  of  North  Carolina  loyalists,  the  7th,  23d,  33d, 
and  71st  British  regiments,  with  three  companies  of  the  16th,  a  light  company 
attached  to  the  71st,  two  companies  of  yagers,  the  British  legion,  and  a  com 
pany  of  the  17th  dragoons.  But  the  sum  of  the  whole  must  depend  upon  the 
numerical  amount  of  each  corps,  which  is  only  to  be  had  from  actual  returns, 
and  these  returns,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  were  duly  transmitted  to  the  com 
mander  in  chief. 

Upon  receiving  intelligence  of  the  advance  of  Morgan  to  the  Pacolct,  the 
fears  of  Lord  Cornwallis  were  seriously  excited  for  the  security  of  Ninety-Six. 
Although  Morgan's  force  in  regular  troops,  destitute  as  he  was  of  artillery,  was 
not  sufficient  to  excite  any  serious  alarm  for  that  post,  yet  the  British  com 
mander  knew  the  disaffection  of  the  people,  and  exaggerated  accounts  poured 
in  upon  him  of  the  rising  and  embodying  of  the  militia.  His  whole  force  at 
that  time,  lay  between  the  Broad  and  Catawba  rivers ;  the  main  body  at 
Winnsborough,  and  Tarleton  a  short  distance  in  advance  of  him.  The  latter 
had  just  then  returned  from  the  pursuit  of  Sumptcr  to  Blackstocks,  and,  with 
out  accounting  for  any  other  reinforcement  than  that  of  die  71st,  of  200  men, 
had  with  him  a  force  exceeding  800  effectives. 

On  the  1st  of  January  Tarleton  received  orders  from  Lord  Cornwallis,  to 
strike  across  the  country  and  throw  himself  between  Morgan  and  the  post  at 
Ninety-Six.  With  his  usual  celerity,  for  his  motions  were  always  rapid,  he 
obeyed  this  order;  and  leaving  behind  him  his  baggage,  advanced  twenty 
miles  beyond  Broad  River,  to  a  position  which  placed  him  nearly  south  of  that 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  36' 

of  Morgan.  Here  in  a  few  days,  he  was  joined  by  his  bac^age,  and  reinforced  CHAP. 
with  the  7th  regiment  and  about  fifty  cavalry  of  the  17th  dragoons.  Hisv-^N<>>_ 
force  no\v  amounted  to  about  1100  men,  550  of  whom  were  the  formidable 
legion,  who  had  been  so  long,  wirh  unvarying  success,  traversing  every  corner 
of  the  state,  and  triumphing  over  every  corps  they  had  encountered.  His 
field-pieces  were  served  by  a  detachment  of  the  royal  artillery,  soon  to  have 
an  opportunity  of  proving  that  they  justly  merited  the  high  reputation  of  the 
corps  they  belonged  to.  The  7th  regiment  of  200  men,  and  the  first  battalion 
of  the  71st,  the  light  infantry  of  the  71st,  the  dragoons  of  the  17th,  and  some 
loyalists,  made  up  the  residue  of  his  force,  admitted  by  himself  to  have 
amounted  to  one  thousand,  but  which  the  Americans  contend  equalled  eleven 
hundred  and  fifty. 

With  tl:;s  force  he  prepared  to  obey  the  orders  of  his  commander,  "  to  push 
his  adversary  to  the  utmost."  But  that  the  fate  of  his  victim,  who  lay  on  the 
west  side  of  Broad  River,  might  be  rendered  inevitable,  it  was  concerted  that 
Cornwallis  should  commence  his  march  a  few  days  before  Tarlcton;  that,  by 
advancing  northwardly  as  far  as  King's  Mountain,  on  the  east  side  of  that 
river,  Morgan  might  be  cut  off  from  retreat  and  compelled  to  fight,  to  surren 
der,  or  to  fly  across  the  mountains. 

-  But  other  thoughts  had  now  taken  possession  of  Cornwallis'  mind.  The 
force  then  remaining  with  him  did  not  by  his  account,  much  exceed  that  de 
tached  under  Tarleton.  Should  he  advance  too  far,  the  fate  of  Ferguson 
might  await  him.  A  fire  had  burst  from  the  earth  to  consume  that  comman 
der,  and  his  lordship's  route  lay  directly  towards  the  ominous  King's  Mountain. 
The  same  Scythian  warriors  might  there  arrest  his  progress,  as  their  appear 
ance  was  not  more  unlocked  for  formerly  than  at  this  time.  Or,  the  rein 
forcements  flocking  in  upon  Morgan,  might  excite  in  that  commander  the 
audacity  to  strike  at  the  main  body  in  the  absence  of  Leslie's  corps,  of  the  light 
troops,  and  cavalry.  A  cause  of  uneasiness  had  also  occurred  for  the  security 
of  the  troops  under  Leslie.  The  whigs  of  Mccklenbcrg  had  been  summoned 
to  the  field  under  Davidson.  Great  efforts  were  making  to  embody  them;  with 
what  success  it  would  be  attended,  was  then  uncertain;  and  to  advance  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  with  Greene  but  100  miles  on  his  right,  might  prove 
perilous.  He  concluded,  it  was  no  longer  safe  for  his  two  corps  to  be  sepa 
rated  by  the  Catawba:  and  concluded  justly;  for,  it  will  be  seen  by  the  official 
correspondence  of  the  day,  that  Greene  actually  contemplated  striking  at  his 
several  corps  whilst  they  remained  in  this  detached  and  divided  situation. 
Lord  Cornwallis  accordingly  ordered  Leslie  to  cross  the  Catawba,  and  join 
him  on  the  route  towards  King's  Mountain. 


-368  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  And  now  were  felt  the  consequences  of  ordering  that  officer  to  take  the 
v^^-^  route  by "  Camden.  Had  he  ascended  the  Congaree  to  Granby,  (the  shortest 
route  to  head  quarters,)  besides  having  a  plentiful  country  to  draw  supplies 
from,  there  would  have  been  no  impediment  to  his  advance.  But  by 
ordering  him  to  the  other  route,  a  deep  and  rapid  river,  with  wide  and 
often  impracticable  swamps,  and  no  ford  until  you  ascend  many  miles,  was 
thrown  between  Leslie's  force  and  the  main  army.  Several  days  were 
consumed  by  General  Leslie  in  the  passage  of  the  swamps,  and  on  the 
16th,  Cornwallis,  waiting  for  his  reinforcements,  was  still  no  further  advanced 
than  Turkey  Creek,  twenty-five  miles  to  the  south-east  of  the  position  of  Mor 
gan;  instead  of  having  advanced  as  many  miles,  to  the  north  of  his  position, 
and  on  the  route  which  the  latter  must  pursue,  either  to  form  a  junction  with 
his  commander,  or  to  seek  shelter  in  Virginia.  f 

The  conduct  of  Cornwallis  during  this  campaign  has  been  the*  subject  of 
much  eulogy;  and  in  the  field,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  he  always  supported 
the  character  of  a  brave  and  able  commander.  But  in  all  his  general  mea 
sures  we  see  exhibited  this  strong  proof  of  ill  fortune,  if  not  of  inferior  capa 
city,  that  they  uniformly  worked  together  for  his  ruin.  His  operations  at  this 
period  of  the  campaign,  arc  strikingly  marked  with  this  characteristic.  Nor 
is  his  conduct  secure  from  the  charge  of  indecision, — that  bane  of  military 
enterprise,  and  strongest  proof  of  a  want  of  concoction  in  design;  nor  of  ne 
glect  in  obtaining  and  communicating  intelligence, — among  the  first  of  military- 
duties,  and  not  the  least  of  military  talents.  With  a  commanding  superiority 
of  cavalry,  and  innumerable  loyalists  at  command,  he  ought  never  to  have 
been  without  the  best  of  intelligence,  and  might  have  pursued  whatever  course 
of  operations  he  pleased  with  the  greatest  confidence.  His  measures  against 
Morgan  were  not,  therefore,  forced  upon  him,  th^y  were  perfectly  spontaneous; 
but  both  the  British  commanders  appear  to  have  horn  seduced  by  the  eclat  of 
a  brilliant  coup  dc  main,  and  to  have  sacrificed  to  that  objrct  a  more  secure, 
but  less  imposing  course  of  conduct.  And  the  usual  result  of  too  much  confi 
dence,  attended  their  measures. 

Had  Tarleton,  instead  of  being  ordered  "  to  push  his  adversary  to  the  ut 
most,"  been  simply  instructed  to  hang  upon  his  rear  and  embarrass  his  inarch 
whilst  Cornwallis  advanced  up  the  cast  side  of  Broad  River  far  enough  to  cut 
off  his  retreat  and  then  turned  upon  him,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
Morgan  to  escape,  except  by  the  mountains.  Or  had  he  advanced  up  the  east 
side  of  Broad  River  as  was  originally  projected,  whilst  Leslie  continued  his 
march  up  the  east  side  of  the  Catawba;  even  after  the  victory  obtained  over 
Tarleton,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  both  Morgan  and  his  prisoners  to 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  369 

have  effected  their  retreat  by  the  route  he  pursued.  If  it  be  urged  that  his  CHAP. 
uncertainty  relative  to  the  military  force  collecting  in  his  front,  would  have  ^^^^^ 
rendered  it  imprudent  to  advance  into  a  hostile  country  with  his  army  in  that 
divided  state,  the  reply  is ;  that  we  could  scarcely  credit  it,  were  it  not  asserted 
by  his  own  officers,  that  with  the  advantage  of  having  all  the  loyalists  of  Tryon 
county  in  his  front  to  furnish  him  intelligence,  he  could  remain  in  such  a  state 
of  ignorance  on  that  subject.  But  it  is  not  more  surprising  than  that  he 
should  have  had  no  certain  intelligence  of  the  advance  of  Morgan,  until  the 
latter  reached  the  Pacolet;  and  then  not  to  have  known  with  certainty  that  he 
had  no  artillery.  To  this  last  circumstance  we  arc  to  attribute  his  apprehen 
sions  for  Ninety-Six,  a  post  which  had  been  rendered  perfectly  secure  against 
an  enemy  destitute  of  artillery ;  more  especially  when  there  was  a  considerable 
British  force  in  the  field  in  its  vicinity,  composed  of  loyalists  and  regulars, 
under  a  Colonel  Innis.  But  a  fact  is  asserted  by  Tarleton,  on  this  subject, 
still  less  creditable  to  the  generalship  of  the  British  commander;  which  is,  that 
though  situate  but  a  moderate  distance  from  each  other,  and  engaged  in  joint 
operations  against  Morgan,  yet  from  the  14th  to  the  17th,  he  left  Tarleton 
entirely  without  intelligence  of  his  own  movements  or  further  intentions;  so 
that  Tarleton  remained  under  the  impression  on  the  day  of  the  battle,  tlua  the 
British  army  was  in  die  rear  of  Morgan,  and,  that  though  he  should  himself  be 
repulsed,  the  retreat  of  his  enemy  was  effectually  cut  off,  and  his  fall  rendered 
the  more  certain  when  crippled  by  the  attack.  *§ 

It  was  on  the  12th  January  that  Tarleton  commenced  his  march  to  attack 
Morgan.  At  that  time  it  was  completely  in  the  power  of  the  latter  to  have 
evaded  it,  though  it  would  r.ot  have  been  so  but  for  the  slow  progress  or  oscil 
lating  counsels  of  Cornvvallis,  who  in  eight  days,  had  advanced  but  twenty-five 
miles.  It  has  been  said  by  General  Lee,  that  Morgan's  decision  to  fight 
Tarleton  "grew  out jof  irritation  of  temper."  But  there  can  be  little  doubt  of 
an  original  and  deliberate  intention  to  fight  his  adversary,  if  only  a  favourable 
opportunity  presented  itself.  General  Greene  speaks  of  it  as  an  event  w  Inch 
he  had  sanctioned  and  anticipated,  and  it  is  known  that  Morgan  was  "  nothing 
lothe'"  to  meet  an  adversary.  It  was  not  without  his  knowledge  that  the 
movements  of  the  enemy  were  made;  for  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Greene,  to 
whom  he  was  very  particular  and  regular  in  making  hi^  communications,  not 
withstanding  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  which  separated 
them,  he  mentions  that  he  had  emissaries  always  within  half  a  mile  of  their 
camp,  and  was  regularly  informed  of  all  their  movements.  The  last  of  these 
letters  bears  date  the  loth,  two  days  before  the  battle,  and  we  will  give  it  to 

47 


370  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

rca(*cr  as  a  sPec'imcn  of  the  calmness  -with  which  he  viewed  events,  and 
utter  freedom  from  the  influence  of  irritation. 

"  Camp  at  Burr's  Mils,  Thickette  Creek,  Jan.  15,  1780. 

"  DEAR  GENERAL, 

"Your  letters  of  the  3d  and  8th  instant,  came  to  hand  yesterday  just 
as  I  was  preparing  to  change  my  position, — was  therefore  obliged  to  detain 
the  express  until  this  evening. 

"  The  accounts  I  have  transmitted  you  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Washington's 
Success,  accord  with  his  opinion.  The  number  killed  and  wounded  on  the 
part  of  the  tories  must  depend  on  conjecture,  as  they  broke  on  the  first  charge, 
scattered  through  the  woods  and  were  pursued  in  every  direction.  The  con 
sequences  attending  this  defeat  will  be  fatal  to  the  disaffected.  They  have  not 
been  able  to  embody  since. 

"  Sensible  of  the  importance  of  having  magazines  of  forage  and  provisions 
established  in  this  country.  I  have  left  no  means  in  my  power  uncssayed  to 
effect  this  business.  I  dispatched  Captain  Chitty,  (whom  I  have  appointed  as 
commissary  of  purchases  for  my  command,)  with  orders  to  collect  and  store 
all  the  provisions  that  could  be  obtained  between  the  Catawba  and  Broad 
rivers.  I  gave  him  directions  to  call  on  Colonel  Hill,  who  commands  a  regi 
ment  of  militia  in  that  quarter,  to  furnish  him  with  a  proper  number  of  men 
to  Assist  him  in  the  execution  of  this  commission,  but  he,  to  my  great  surprise, 
has  just  returned  without  effecting  any  thing.  He  tells  me  that  his  failure  pro 
ceeded  from  the  want  of  the  countenance  and  assistance  of  Colonel  Hill,  who 
assured  him  that  General  Sumpter  directed  him  to  obey  no  orders  from  me, 
unless  they  came  through  him. 

"  I  find  it  impracticable  to  procure  more  provisions  in  this  quarter  than  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  our  own  immediate  consumption,  indeed  it  has  been 
with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  we  have  been  able  to  effect  this.  We  have  to 
feed  such  a  number  of  horses  that  the  most  plentiful  country  must  soon  be 
exhausted.  Nor  am  I  a  little  apprehensive  that  no  part  of  this  state  accessible 
to  us,  can  support  us  long.  Could  the  militia  be  persuaded  to  change  their 
fatal  mode  of  going  to  war,  much  provision  might  be  saved,  but  the  custom  has 
taken  such  deep  root  that  it  cannot  be  abolished. 

"  Upon  a  full  and  mature  deliberation,  I  am  confirmed  in  the  opinion  that 
nothing  can  be  effected  by  my  detachment  in  this  country  which  will  balance 
the  risks  1  will  be  subjected  to  by  remaining  here.  The  enemy's  great  supe 
riority  of  numbers  and  our  distance  from  the  main  army,  will  enable  Lord 
Cornwallis  to  detach  so  superior  a  force  against  me,  as  to  render  it  essential  to, 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  371 

our  safety  to  avoid  coming  to  action;  nor  will  this  be  always  in  my  power.  CHAP. 
No  attempt  to  surprise  me  will  be  left  untried  by  them,  and  situated  as  we 
be,  every  possible  precaution  may  not  be  sufficient  to  secure  us.     The  scarcity 
of  forage  makes  it  impossible  for  us  to  be  always  in  a  compact  body;  and  were 
this  not  the  case,  it  is  beyond  the  art  of  man  to  keep  the  militia  from  straggling. 
These  reasons  induce  me  to  request  that  I  may  be  recalled  with  my  detach 
ment;  and  that  General  Davidson  and  Colonel  Pickens  may  be  left  with  the 
militia  of  North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.     They  will  not  be  so  much 
the  object  of  the  enemy's  attention,  and  will  be  capable  of  being  a  check  on  the 
disaffected,  which  is  all  I  can  effect. 

"  Colonel  Pickens  is  a  valuable,  discreet,  and  attentive  officer,  and  has  the 
confidence  of  the  militia, 

44  My  force  is  inadequate  to  the  attempts  you  have  hinted  at.  [An  attack 
opon  Gornwallis  in  the  security  of  his  camp.]  I  have  now  with  me  only  200 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  140  North  Carolina  volunteers.  Nor  do  I 
expect  to  have  more  than  two  thirds  of  these  to  assist  me,  should  I  be  attacked; 
lor  it  is  impossible  to  keep  them  collected. 

"  Though  I  am  convinced  that  were  you  on  the  spot  the  propriety  of  my 
proposition  would  strike  you  forcibly,  should  you  think  it  unadvisable  to  recall 
me,  you  may  depend  on  my  attempting  every  thing  to  annoy  the  enemy,  and 
to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  detachment.  I  shall  cheerfully  acquiesce  in 
your  determinations. 

"  Colonel  Tarleton  has  crossed  the  Tygcr  at  Musgrove's  Mill ;  his  force  we 
cannot  learn.  It  is  more  than  probable  we  are  his  object.  Cormvallis  by  the 
last  accounts  was  at  the  cross-roads  near  Lee's  old  place. 

44  We  have  just  learned  that  Tarleton's  force  is  from  eleven  to  twelve  hun 
dred  British,"  &:c. 

This  letter  furnishes  an  ample  exposition  of  the  causes  which  induced  Mor 
gan  to  resolve  on  fighting  Tarleton.  The  opposition  of  General  Sumptcr  to 
his  collecting  magazines  in  his  reai ,  had  put  an  end  to  all  hope  of  performing 
that  service,  so  indispensable  to  a  rapid  retreat  to  the  mountains:  the  vast 
consumption  of  forage  from  the  militia  horses  rendered  it  impossible  to  retain 
his  present  position:  to  retire  before  the  enemy  would  be  injurious  to  the 
cause  he  came  to  foster ;  and  Lord  Cornwallis,  instead  of  detaching  against 
him  an  overwhelming  force,  had  detached  Colonel  Tarleton  at  the  head  of  a 
force  numerically  not  superior  to  his  own.  We  may  add  to  these  reasons,  that 
his  men  were  in  high  spirits  from  their  late  success  against  the  loyalists,  and 


372  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  he  had  reason  to  expect  from  his  adversary  all  the  errors  that  flow  from  wide 

IX. 

s^v^,  and  confidence,  or  from  contempt  for  the  forces  he  had  to  cope  with. 

Morgan's  resolution  was  therefore  promptly  taken,  the  measure  was  sub 
mitted  to  his  troops,  the  cry  to  lead  them  on  was  universal,  and  he  advanced 
immediately  to  the  Pacolct,  intending  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantage  which 
an  attack  on  his  enemy  while  crossing  the  stream,  seemed  to  promise.  This,  it 
must  be  acknon  ledgcd  was  a  measure  of  at  least  "  a  noble  daring ;"  for  Lord 
Cornwallis'  position  was  little  more  than  a  day's  march  on  his  left.  But 
Tarleton's  avidity  for  crlorv  rendered  him  as  anxious  as  his  adversary  to  anti- 

•/  O          *•  v 

cipatc  the  arrival  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  or  rather,  according  to  his  own  account, 
worse  informed  than  Morgan,  he  thought  his  commander  at  this  time  in  the 
rear  of  his  adversary.  The  two  detachments  arrived  opposite  to  each  other 
near  the  banks  of  the  Pacolet  about  the  same  hour. 

The  Pacolet  is  a  small  river  fordablc  in  many  places.  Tarleton  did  not 
leave  his  adversary  long  to  deliberate.  On  the  evening  of  the  15th,  he  put  his 
troops  in  motion  towards  the  head  of  the  stream  to  indicate  an  intention  of 
crossing  it  above  Morgan's  position,  and  thus  to  place  his  adversary  between 
himself  and  the  main  army.  The  stratagem  took  effect,  for  it  was  exactly  that 
measure  which  seemed  to  promise  him  the  greatest  advantage.  Morgan  ac 
cordingly  made  a  correspondent  movement,  but  his  adversary  silently  decamping 
in  the  night,  descended  to  a  crossing  place  a  few  miles  below,  and  made  good 
the  passage  of  the  river  before  daylight.  Morgan  then  moved  off  precipitately,, 
and  before  night  regained  his  position  on  Thicketty  Creek,  and  resolved  to 
await  the  approach  of  the  enemy.  Tarleton  halted  for  the  night  on  the 
ground  that  the  Americans  had  abandoned,  and  supposing  that  his  adversary 
was  resolved  to  fly,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  17th  resumed  his  march,  with 
every  preparation  to  embarrass  the  progress  of  the  Americans,  until  he  could 
overtake  them;  and  if  that  event  should  be  protracted  until  their  reinforce 
ments  of  militia  rendered  them  an  overmatch  for  the  force  under  his  com 
mand,  to  hang  upon  their  march  until  he  could  obtain  the  co-operation  of  the 
grand  army.  All  this  was  foreseen  by  Morgan ;  as  well  the  conduct  as  the 
motives  of  his  adversary;  and  he  prepared  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  them. 

It  vi*as  about  8  o'clock,  A.  M.  that  the  British  army  arrived  in  view  of  the 
Americans;  and  instead  of  overtaking  his  adversary  in  the  hurry,  confusion, 
and  fatigue  of  a  flight,  Tarleton  found  him  rested,  breakfasted,  deliberately 
drawn  up,  every  man  at  his  post,  and  their  commander  in  a  popular  and  for 
cible  style  of  elocution  haranguing  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  British 
troops  had  been  five  hours  that  morning  on  die  march  ;  but  Tarleton  judged 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  373 

the  excitement  of  the  moment  of  greater  consequence  than  rest  or  refreshment,   CHAP. 
and  prepared  immediately  for  battle.     The  spirit  and  alacrity  exhibited  by 
troops  justified  the  determination. 

Morgan  has  been  blamed  for  risking  this  battle;  notwithstanding  the  impos 
ing  effect  of  its  brilliant  result,  his  military  reputation  has  materially  suffered 
from  it.  Success  seldom  needs  an  apology,  and  he  was  too  haughty  and  too 
indifferent  to  the  opinions  of  historians  or  critics,  ever  to  have  given  publicly 
his  own  explanations.  Hence  public  opinion  has  settled  down  in  one  general 
conclusion, — that  he  was  a  brave  and  fortunate,  but  not  an  able  commander. 
It  is  thus  that  reputations  are  gained  or  lost.  One  asserts,  another  repeats,  and 
no  one  afterwards  takes  the  trouble  to  examine,  or  is  sufficiently  adventurous 
to  advance  an  opposite  opinion.  Thus  too  it  is  that  science  tyranizes  over 
genius.  The  most  brilliant  achievement,  unless  obtained  by  the  rules  of  art,  is 
not  permitted  to  establish  the  reputation  of  the  performer,  lest  it  should  detract 
from  that  of  the  learned  theorist.  There  are  thousands,  who  must  ever  limp 
after  the  rapid  conclusions  of  genius,  and  quick  movements  of  bold  and  deci 
sive  minds,  who  will  yet  be  supported  in  their  reveries  by  tens  of  thousands  of 
others,  merely  because  the  latter  can  best  follow  the  views  and  actions  of  the 
lower  orders  of  genius. 

It  is  a  delightful  part  of  this  undertaking  that  it  affords  us  so  many  opportu 
nities  of  doing  justice  to  the  actions  of  the  worthies  of  the  revolution. 

There  is  no  part  of  Morgan's  conduct  in  this  affair  that  does  not  admit  of 
explanations  calculated  to  exculpate  him  from  the  charges  of  irritation  or  in 
discretion,  or  that  will  not  show  him  to  have  acted  under  the  influence  of  that 
self-devotion  for  which  he  was  eminently  distinguished. 

The  subjoined  answer  to  Morgan's  letter  of  the  15th,  shows  that  his  com 
mander  attached  much  importance  to  his  holding  his  ground. 

General  Greene  to  General  Morgan.     Camp  Pec  Dee,  January  9th,  1781. 

[EXTRACT.] 

"  Your  favour  of  the  15th  was  delivered  me  last  evening  about  12  o'clock. 
I  was  informed  of  Lord  Cornwallis'  movement  before  the  receipt  of  your 
letter,  and  agree  with  you  in  opinion  that  you  are  the  object.  And  from  his 
making  so  general  a  movement,  it  convinces  me  he  feels  a  great  inconvenience 
from  your  force  and  situation.  He  would  never  harass  his  troops  to  remove 
you,  if  he  did  not  think  it  an  object  of  some  importance.  Nor  would  he  put 
his  collective  force  in  motion  if  he  had  not  some  respect  for  your  numbers.  I 
am  sensible  your  situation  Is  critical,  and  requires  the  most  watchful  attention 


374  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  to  guard  against  surprise.  But  I  think  it  is  of  great  importance  to  keep  up  a 
vw^v,^ force  in  that  quarter;  nor  can  I  persuade  myself  that  the  militia  alone  will 
answer  the  same  valuable  purposes  as  when  joined  by  the  continental  troop?. 

"  It  is  not  my  wish  you  should  come  to  action  unless  you  have  a  manifest 
advantage  and  a  moral  certainty  of  succeeding.  Put  nothing  to  the  hazard. 
A  retreat  may  be  disagreeable,  but  it  is  not  disgraceful.  Regard  not  the  opi 
nions  of  the  day.  It  is  not  our  business  to  risk  too  much,  our  affairs  are  in  too 
critical  a  situation,  and  require  time  and  nursing  to  give  them  a  better  tone. 

"  If  General  Sumptcr  and  you  could  fix  upon  a  plan  for  him  to  hold  the 
post  which  you  now  occupy,  and  he  to  be  joined  by  the  militia  under  General 
Davidson,  and  .you  with  your  force  and  the  Georgia  and  Virginia  militia,  to 
move  towards  Augusta  or  into  that  quarter,  I  should  have  no  objection,  pro 
vided  you  think  it  wrill  answer  any  valuable  purpose,  and  can  be  attempted 
with  a  degree  of  safety. 

"  I  am  unwilling  to  recall  you  if  it  can  be  avoided,  but  I  had  rather  recall 
you  than  expose  you  to  the  hazard  of  a  surprise. 

"  Before  this  can  possibly  reach  you  I  imagine  the  movements  of  Lord 
Cornwallis  and  Colonel  Tarleton  will  be  sufficiently  explained,  and  you  obliged 
to  take  some  decisive  measures.  I  shall  be  perfectly  satisfied  if  you  keep  clear 
of  misfortune;  for,  though  I  wish  you  laurels,  I  am  not  willing  to  expose  die 
common  cause  to  give  you  an  opportunity  to  acquire  them." 

Colonel  Tarleton,  with  characteristic  candour,  seems  to  have  been  resolved 
to  exempt  his  adversary  from  the  reproach  of  having  engaged  with  a  great 
disparity  of  force,  for  he  asserts  upon  "  accurate  knowledge,"  that  Morgan's 
force  amounted  to  1300  militia,  500  regulars,  and  120  cavalry, — exactly  double 
of  what  it  did  consist  of.  Colonel  Tarleton  may  have  consoled  his  mortified 
feelings  with  believing  this  "accurate  account."  But  the  reader  may  rest 
assured  from  the  most  authentic  information,  that  Morgan's  whole  force  on 
duty,  consisted  of  290  regular  infantry,  80  cavalry,  and  600  militia,  in  all  970. 
Tarleton  certainly  numbered  1050  regulars,  and  about  50  loyalists;  leaving 
the  Americans  only  130  inferior  in  numbers.  In  quality  of  troops,  it  has 
been  supposed  the  British  had  infinitely  the  advantage;  but  in  this  there  is 
some  mistake.  At  least  three  or  four  hundred  of  the  enemy  are  said  to  have 
new  recruits,  and  probably  not  yet  subdued  by  discipline,  or  ever  before  in 
batde.  On  the  other  hand,  such  a  body  of  militia  as  were  collected  under  Mor 
gan,  has  seldom  been  collected  on  the  field  of  battle.  Two  companies  of  them 
under  Captains  Triplet  and  Tait,  were  from  Virginia,  and  were  very  generally 
veteran  soldiers,  who  had  served  out.  the  time  of  their  enlistment,  and  were 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  375 

now  hired  as  substitutes  by  the  drafted  militia.     The  Georgians  consisted  of  CFIAF. 
Clarke's  veterans,  who  hud  been  almost  the  whole  war  in  constant  service,  ^^^^^ 
and  a  more  dauntless  little  corps  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  collect.     Their 
gallant  colonel  did  not  share  with  them  in  the  honours  of  this  field,  for  he  had 
recently  been  disabled  by  a  severe  wound ;  but  they  wrere  led  by  two  distin 
guished  officers  Cunningham  and  Jackson.     The  residue  of  die  militia  were 
all  determined  whigs,  practised  marksmen,  and  most  of  them,  like  their  com 
mander  Pickcns,  fought  literally  with  halters  round  their  necks.     They  were 
also  commanded  by  officers  of  distinguished  merit,  and  who  possessed  then* 
unlimited  confidence.* 

There  were  among  the  militia  forty-five  men  well  mounted  and  equipped 
with  sabres.  These  were  placed  under  the  command  of  M'Call,  and  being 
added  to  Washington's  corps,  increased  that  command  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  men.  Therefore,  the  disparity  in  quality  of  troops,  though  deci 
dedly  in  favour  of  Colonel  Tarleton,  was  not  so  overwhelming  as  it  has  gene 
rally  been  rated.  Yet  two  pieces  of  artillery,  and  treble  the  number  of  cavalry 
and  bayonets,  presented  a  most  appalling  superiority. 

It  was  met  in  the  only  w  ay  in  which  it  could  have  been  met.  Morgan's 
marksmen,  if  they  could  not  maintain  order  themselves  in  action,  presented  the 
means  of  introducing  disorder  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  For  this  purpose 
they  were  used,  and  the  experiment  succeeded. 

But  the  subject  on  which  Morgan  has  been  most  severely  censured,  was  the 
choice  of  ground.  An  open  woodland,  possessing  nothing  to  recommend  it 
but  a  trifling  elevation ;  and  a  river  winding  round  his  left  at  the  distance  of  six 
miles  and  extending  parallel  to  his  rear,  so  as  to  cut  off  all  retreat  in  case  of 
misfortune.  It  is  obvious,  that  the  alternative  exhibited  is,  extraordinary  indis 
cretion,  or  extraordinary  boldness  and  originality  of  design.  The  well-read 
tactician,  who  squares  his  opinions  by  military  dogmas,  will  not  hesitate  to 
decide  against  the  prudence  of  leaving  his  wings  in  air  exposed  to  a  superior 
cavalry  and  more  numerous  infantry,  and  a  river  in  his  rear,  which  cut  oft' 
every  hope  of  retreat. 

But  those  who  were  acquainted  with  the  character  of  the  man,  may  recog 
nise  in  the  following  brief  justification  of  himself,  that  dauntless  decision  of 


*  No  eulogiura  of  ours  can  add  to  the  reputation  of  Pickens.  But  M'Call  is  less  known,  and  has 
been  too  soon  forgotten.  He  was  among  the  most  distinguished  partisan  leaders  of  his  time.  But 
lie  did  not  live  to  see  the  issue  of  the  contest  in  which  he  had  taken  a  part.  Excelled  by  no  one  for 
activity,  resolution,  and  intelligence,  he  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  small-pox,  contracted  in  one  of  his  rude 
encounters  with  the  enemy. 


37G  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CITAP.  character  which  always  distinguished  him,  as  well  as  something  more  than  a 
^^v-^r  plausibility  of  reasoning.  "  I  would  not  have  had  a  swamp  in  the  view  of  my 
militia  on  any  consideration;  they  would  have  made  for  it,  and  nothing  could 
have  detained  them  from  it.  And  as  to  covering  my  wings,  I  knew  my  adver 
sary,  and  was  perfectly  sure  I  should  have  nothing  but  downright  fighting.  As 
to  retreat,  it  was  the  very  thing  I  wished  to  cut  off  all  hope  of.  I  would  have 
thanked  Tarlcton  had  he  surrounded  me  with  his  cavalry.  It  would  have 
been  better  than  placing  my  own  men  in  the  rear  to  shoot  down  those  who 
broke  from  the  ranks.  When  men  are  forced  to  fight,  they  will  sell  their  lives 
dearly;  and  I  knew  that  the  dread  of  Tarlcton's  cavalry  would  give  due 
weight  to  the  protection  of  my  bayonets,  and  keep  my  troops  from  breaking  as 
Bufort's  regiment  did.  Had  I  crossed  the  river,  one  half  of  the  militia  would 
immediately  have  abandoned  me." 

If  these  were  rcallv  Morgan's  reasons  for  selecting  his  ground,  we  can  casilv 

*  O  w 

account  for  his  having  never  avowed  them  in  his  official  communications;  as 
they  carry  with  them  assumptions  not  calculated  to  add  to  his  popularity  with 
the  militia,  and  unfavourable  to  the  courage  and  conduct  of  men  from  whom 
he  derived  the  most  essential  services  in  the  action.  Yet  we  have  seen,  that 
in  his  communications  with  the  general  he  expressed  doubts  of  the  stability  of 
at  least  one  third  of  the  militia  force  then  with  him.  A  number  whose  defec 
tion  in  time  of  battle  might  have  been  sufficient  to  carry  with  them  many 
more. 

Unscientific  as  these  reasons  attributed  to  Morgan  will  be  adjudged,  yet,  if 
several  eminent  commanders  of  other  times,  have  been  immortalised  for  burn 
ing  their  fleets,  that  their  men  might  have  no  other  alternative  but  conquest,  it 
•will  be  difficult  to  show  in  what  their  conduct  differed  essentially  from  that 
of  the  American  general. 

It  may  be  (and  has  been)  contended  that  the  obligation  to  fight  was  not 
in  this  case  imperative.  But  this  point,  it  will  bo  found  very  difficult  to 
sustain.  It  is  true  that  the  halt  made  by  Tarlclon  oa  the  ground  abandoned 
by  t lie  Americans  en  the  morning  of  the  16th,  left  the  latter  in  possession  of 
considerable  ground.  But  it  did  not  exceed  ten  or  twelve  miles.  And  the 
British  dragoons  had  been  pushed  forward  in  the  evening  with  orders  to  hang 
upon  the  American  rc.u  and  impede  his  march.  Morgan  then  well  knew 
that  the  moment  he  prepared  to  decamp,  intelligence  would  be  communicated 
to  the  British  commander,  and  the  forces  of  the  latter  be  set  in  motion  to  over- 
tak^  him.  This  they  probably  would  have  done  before  he  could  have  crossed 
the  river;  and  he  must  then  have  fought,  with  his  troops  fatigued  and  dispirited 
by  retreat,  most  probably,  much  diminished  by  desertion,  and  under  the  d\s- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENR.  3f? 

advantage  of  forming  in  the  face  of  a  superior  enemy,  on  ground,  the  clioice  of  CHAP. 
which  would  be  forced  upon   him  by  his  adversary.     Could  lie  even  have  v^-v^^, 
reached  the  river  before  the  main  body  of  his  enemy  had  conic  up  with  him, 
crossing  it  in  the  face  of  a  powerful  cavalry,  must  have  been  attended  with 
great  loss,  and  a  loss  of  such  a  nature  as  might  afterwards  have  bjo  tight  him 
completely  into  the  power  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  enemy's  divisions.   There 
is  one  circumstance  relative  to  the  ground  on  which  the  action  was  fought,  the 
importance  of  which  has  never  been  duly  estimated,  but  which  it  will  be  found 
in  the  sequel,  promised  and  subserved  the  most  important  uses.     This  was, 
that  in  the  rear  of  the  eminence  on  which  his  regular  troops  were  posted,  the 
ground,  after  descending  a  few  yards,  rose  into  another  eminence  sufficient  in 
height  to  cover  a  man  on  horseback  placed  in  the  rear  of  it ;  so  that  it  pro-  • 
tected  his  cavalry  from  the  artillery,  and  furnished  a  secure  rallying  point  to 
his  militia. 

The  battle  of  the  Cowpens  was  fought  on  the  17th  of  January  1781.  It 
^cannot  be  passed  over  without  due  attention,  as  it  was  the  first  link  in  the 
chain  of  events  that  led  even  to  the  capture  of  Cornwallis  and  the  successful 
termination  of  the  revolutionary  war.* 

Many  authors  have  described  this  battle ;  and  by  collating  the  accounts 
of  it  given  by  Ramsay,  Tarleton,  Lee,  Moultrie,  and  a  late  very  accurate  his 
torian,  Captain  Hugh  M'CalJ,  a  correct  general  view  will  be  presented  of  it. 
But  there  still  remain  a  few  important  facts  that  have  not  been  noticed,  and 
others,  the  connection  and  dependance  of  which  have  not  been  fully  explained. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  Morgan  had  taken  his  ground  on  an  eminence 
gently  ascending  for  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  and  covered  with  an 
open  wood.  On  the  crown  of  this  eminence  were  posted  his  best  troops, 
composed  of  the  290  Maryland  regulars,  and  in  line  on  their  right,  the  two 
companies  of  Virginia  militia  under  Triplet  and  Tate,  and  a  company  of 
Georgians  under  Captain  Beatie,  about  140  in  the  whole,  making  his  rear  line 
to  consist  of  430  men.  This  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Howard. 


*  The  place  of  this  memorable  event  has  now  lost  its  name,  but  no  American  will  reflect  with 
indifference  on  the  possibility  of  its  identity  ever  becoming  doubtful.  The  following  remarks  may 
direct  the  researches  of  some  future  traveller  or  historian.  At  the  first  settlement  of  that  country,  if 
was  a  place  of  considerable  notoriety  from  a  trading  path  with  the  Cherokces  which  passed  by  it.  In 
the  early  grants  of  land  in  that  neighbourhood  it  is  distinguished  by  the  epithet  of  Hannah's  Cow- 
pens,  being  the  grazing  establishment  of  a  man  of  the  name  of  Hannah.  In  time  it  became  known 
by  the  epithet  of  the  Cowpens,  and  is  now  distinguished  as  attached  to  Nesbit's  iron  works,  the  pro 
perty  of  the  honourable  Wilson  Nesbit. 

43 


.   .  • 

• 

•**•••  '"'•     '•  •  '••'•.'  •'..."  . 

S78  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.     -  One  hundred  and  fifty  vards  in  advance  of  this  line,  the  main  body  of  the 

IX. 

, militia,  about  270  in  number,  were  posted  in  open  order.  These  weic  all 
volunteers,  and  practised  marksmen,  most  of  them  glowing  under  a  sense  of 
personal  injury,  and  were  commanded  by  Colonel  Pickens. 

In  advance  of  the  first  line  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  were  posted 
150  picked  men,  extending  in  loose  order  along  the  whole  front; — on  the 
right  commanded  by  Colonel  Cunningham,  find  on  the  left  by  Major 
M'Dowel,  the  former  of  Georgia,  the  latter  of  South  Carolina.  This  selec- 
lioii  was  calculated  and  intended  to  excite  rivalship  and  emulation,  and  un 
doubtedly  had  its  effect.  No  particular  orders  were  given  to  this  corps  to 
select  objects,  but  they  signified  their  knowledge  of  the  service  they  were  calcu 
lated  to  render,  by  exclaiming  as  they  separated,  "  Mark  the  epaulette  men." 
A  strange  inconsistency  of  idea  prevails  among  military  men  on  this  subject. 
They  justify  the  employment  of  marksmen,  yet  affect  to  execrate  the  direction 
of  their  skill  to  the  use  to  which  they  know  it  will  be  applied,  and  for  which 
.chiefly  it  must  be  intended.  If  it  be  lawful  to  use  them,  it  would  seem  to  fol 
low,  that  it  it  is  lawful  to  use  them  to  the  best  effect.  An  army  without  offi 
cers  becomes  a  mob.  Far  be  it  from  the  author  to  inculcate  any  doctrine  that 
would  aggravate  the  horrors  of  war,  but  it  is  not  improbable,  that  if  those  who 
rule  the  destinies  of  nations,  (and  you  may  follow  the  chain  down  to  the  lowest 
ruler  of  the  destinies  of  armies,)  were  oftener  brought  within  the  reach  of  an 
hostile  rifle,  the  world  would  be  less  vexed  with  wars. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  in  the  rear  of  the  second  line  the  ground  de 
scended  and  then  rose  to  an  eminence  sufficient  to  cover  a  man  on  horse 
back.  Behind  this  the  American  reserve  was  posted,  consisting  of  Washing 
ton  and  M'Call's  cavalry,  125  in  number.  Their  position  was  highly  eligible, 
as  they  were  near  enough  to  render  the  most  prompt  assistance,  and  yet  per 
fectly  secure  from  the  enemy's  artillery. 

The  militia  of  the  front  line  were  also  permitted  to  consult  their  security  as 
far  as  circumstances  would  admit,  by  covering  their  bodies  with  trees  and  fir 
ing  from  a  rest. 

The  order  to  the  advanced  party  was,  not  to  deliver  their  fire  until  the 
enemy  was  within  fifty  yards,  then  to  retire,  covering  themselves  with  trees  as 
occasion  offered,  loading  and  firing  until  they  reached  and  resumed  their  places 
in  the  first  line. 

The  orders  to  the  first  line  were,  to  deliver  two  deliberate  discharges  at  the 
distance  of  fifty  yards,  and  then  to  retire  and  take  their  post  on  the  left  of  the 
regulars.  If  charged  by  the  cavalry,  every  third  man  to  fire  and  two  to  re- 


BATTJ.K  of  the  COWPKXS. 


J'-'  VienL_  Order  <>/'  Baitlt. 


"'  ITfHL-  H7i(7i   the  British  b.b.b.  surrendered. 


'^^ihw^^. 


.- 


-J 


^ 


f  c. 


*  c 


REFERENCES. 

cjmm.mJrJ  t>r  C.<1.  IKrsfim.tr.-M 

if.    Jtarf&n.t    Tnt-fV fr  -V-j/i-r  //,.»,W. 

r    Virv* * <*-fr?  JHaiaU-L,f.iff  Tnfltt. 

f.f.   Militia.  f<-l.  Pirluns. 

a.,1.  British   <~.i>4i/ri    ,'n  lAt-  WinaJ-. 

ab.b.b.    D-:  Kt.iuJjr  7>i','/v. 
c.c.  AraUsrr'i*'  Of 
*  «.  IniaJttrr'^f-  fJtf    KfJrrn. 

J.  (araJrjr  of  i/>t  Jt*eem. 


¥ VicML. ll'hcn.  the  Mill ti\i  were  tl riven  in. 


,;-;>r- -.V,,-  -•<&¥•"•*_, 


%**«* 


<l 

a 


x 


la 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE,  379 

main  in  reserve,  lest  the  cavalry  should  continue  to  advance  after  the  first  fire ;   CHAP. 
or  to  be  used  if  they  wheeled  to  retire.  v^->^/ 

The  orders  to  the  second  line  were,  not  to  be  alarmed  at  the  retreat  of  the 
militia,  (and  the  orders  given  to  the  latter  were  detailed  to  them,)  to  fire  low 
and  deliberately,  not  to  break  on  any  account,  and  if  forced  to  retire,  to  rally 
on  the  eminence  in  their  rear,  where  they  were  assured  the  enemy  could  not 
injure  them. 

The  baggage  of  the  American  army,  had  been  sent  off  early  in  the  morning 
under  a  suitable  escort,  with  orders  to  halt  a  few  miles  in  the  rear,  and  the- 
militia  horses  (for  the  volunteers  were  all  mounted)  were  secured  to  the  boughs 
of  trees,  a  convenient  distance  in  the  rear  of  the  reserve. 

.     Every  arrangement  being  thus  completed,  the  men  were  ordered,  in  the 
military  phrase,  "to  ease  their  joints,"  by  which  is  meant,  to  dispose  of  them 
selves  at  their  case  without  quitting  their  ranks. 
,    All  were  in  high  spirits,  for  all  had  concurred  in  a  wish  to  be  led  to  battle. 

Thus  circumstanced  the  American  army  calmly  looked  on  while  the  enemy 
formed  his  order  of  battle  at  the  distance  of  four  hundred  yards  from  the  first 
line. 

.  The  British  infantry  with  the  exception  of  the  71st,  wrere  drawn  up  in  one 
line,  co-extensive  with  and  parallel  to  those  of  the  Americans.  Most  of  the 
American  writers  place  the  artillery  in  the  centre  of  the  whole,  but  the  position 
of  the  two  pieces  was,  equidistant  from  each  other  and  from  the  extremity  of 
each  wing,  dividing  the  line  into  thirds. 

In  the  rear  of  the  left,  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  was 
posted  die  British  reserve,  consisting  of  the  71st  and  200  dragoons.  The 
residue  of  the  dragoons  covered  the  two  wings,  giving  a  squadron  of  fifty  to 
each. 

If  the  reader  will  now  place  himself  on  the  eminence  in  the  rear  of  the 
line,  he  will  have  a  distinct  view  of  the  battle. 

Turlctou  has  generally  been  charged  with  having,  in  his  impatience,  com 
menced  the  attack  before  his  dispositions  were  completed.  But  the  mistake 
arose  from  the  following  circumstance.  Upon  his  advancing  to  reconnoitre, 
the  parties  under  Cunningham  and  M'Dowel  prevented  his  approaching  near 
enough  to  distinguish  satisfactorily  the  American  order  of  battle.  He  there 
fore  ordered  the  cavalry  to  advance  and  drive  them  in.  On  the  advance  of 
the  cavalry,  the  American  parties  retreated  and  fell  into  the  first  line,  and  were 
thus  precluded  from  performing  the  service  for  which  they  were  most  probably 
assigned  to  this  advanced  position.  But  they  pefomied  another  \\hich  in  the 
sequel  answered  nearly  as  beneficial  a  purpose.  They  gave  the  cavalry  a  few 


580  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  discharges  which  made  them  tremble,  for  at  least  that  day,  at  the  deadly  aim 
,of  an  American  riileman. 

The  dispositions  of  the  enemy  being  completed,  he  advanced  steadily  under 
iire  of  his  artillery,  and  the  militia  maintained  their  ground  with  perfect  cool 
ness.  At  the  assigned  distance  they  delivered  their  fire  with  unerring  aim, 
and  it  was  the  magnanimous  confession  of  a  gallant  officer  of  the  Maryland 
line  who  fought  on  this  day,  "  that  here  the  battle  was  gained."  The  killed 
Bnd  wounded  of  the  commissioned  and  non-commissioned  officers  who  lav  on 

tf 

the  field  of  battle  where  the  fire  of  the  riflemen  was  delivered,  and  the  high 
proportion  which  the  killed  and  wounded  of  this  description  bore  to  the  whole 
number,  sufficiently  justified  the  assertion. 

As  soon  as  the  militia  broke  from  their  line,  the  enemy  rent  the  air  with  their 
shouts  and  quickened  their  advance;  and  from  that  moment  the  want  of  offi 
cers  discovered  itself  by  the  confusion  which  ensued  in  their  ranks. 

As  soon  as  the  militia  were  cleared  away  from  before  die  second  line,  the 
latter  commenced  their  fire,  and  for  near  thirty  minutes,  it  was  kept  up  with 
coolness  and  constancy.  The  enemy,  although  halted  frequently  for  the  resto 
ration  of  order,  steadily  advanced ;  yet  obviously  with  such  hesitation  that  the 
British  commander  was  induced  to  order  up  the  71st  into  line  on  his  left; 
while  the  cavalry  made  a  sweep  upon  the  American  right.  Morgan  perceived 
this  movement,  and  with  it  the  necessity  of  covering  his  flank. 

The  events  of  the  succeeding  fifteen  minutes  of  this  action  are  almost  too 
rapid  and  crowded  to  admit  of  description.  They  moved  together  like  the 
rays  of  light,  but  are  not  as  easily  shown  in  their  distinct  brilliancy,  when 
separated  through  the  medium  of  language. 

Howard  naturally  cast  his  eyes  to  the  reserve  as  the  ordinary  means  to  be 
resorted  to  for  protection.  But  Washington  was  at  that  time  actively  and 
vigorously  engaged  where  duty  called  him  on  the  left.  The  cavalry  of 
Tarleton's  left  \ving  had  poured  upon  die  rear  of  the  retreating  militia.  As  the 
right  of  the  line  of  militia  had  to  traverse  the  whole  front  of  the  second  line  to 
reach  the  ground  on  which  they  were  ordered  to  rally,  they  were  necessarily 
very  much  exposed  to  this  danger.  Washington  flew  to  their  assistance,  and 
repulsing  the  enemy,  enabled  the  militia  to  regain  the  tranquillity  necessary  for 
returning  to  a  state  of  order.  The  eminence  which  had  covered  the  reserve 
was  exceedingly  favourable  to  this  purpose,  and  Pickens  knew  how  to  avail 
Jiimself  of  it.  Here  most  of  them  gathered  round  him  and  were  soon  reduced 
to  order. 

Apprehensive  that  the  reserve  could  not  be  brought  up  in  time  to  defend  his 
exposed  flank,  or  if  it  were,  that  it  would  leave  his  other  flank  too  much  ex- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  381 

posed,  Morgan  dispatched  an  order  to  the  militia  on  his  right,  to  fall  back  from  CHAP. 
their  right  so  as  to  form  at  right  angles  with  his  line,  and  repel  the  enemy's  ^^^^ 
advance  upon  his  right  flank.  To  effect  this  mano3uvre  with  precision  and 
dispatch,  the  commanding  officer  ordered  his  men  to  face  to  the  right  about, 
and  wheel  on  their  left.  The  first  part  of  the  order  was  executed  with  cool 
ness  and  recollection,  and  the  militia  began  to  move.  At  this  point  of  time  it 
was  that  fortune,  ever  hovering  over  fields  of  battle,  played  off  that  celebrated 
freak  which  at  first  threatened  destruction  to  the  American  arms,  but  in  a 
moment  after,  crowned  them  with  the  most  signal  success.  Seeing  the  move 
ment  of  the  right  of  their  line,  and  supposing  that  this  was  the  state  of  things 
which  required  a  retreat  to  the  eminence  in  their  rear,  the  whole  American 
line  faced  about  and  began  to  move  rather  in  an  accelerating  step,  but  still  in 
perfect  order,  fowards  their  intended  second  position.  Howard  presuming  the 
order  must  have  emanated  from  the  commander,  made  no  opposition,  but  bent 
bis  whole  attention  to  the  preservation  of  order,  and  encouragement  of  his 
men.  Morgan  also  under  the  impression  that  the  movement  was  made  under 
the  order  of  Howard,  and  thinking  favourably  of  it,  under  existing  circum 
stances,  rode  along  the  rear  of  the  line  reminding  the  officers  to  halt  and  face 
as  soon  as  they  reached  their  ground.  But  just  at  that  crisis  they  W7ere  accosted 
by  another  officer,  and  their  attention  drawn  to  some  facts  which  produced  an 
immediate  change  of  measures.  This  officer  was  a  messenger  from  Colonel 
Washington,  who  having  been  carried  in  pursuing  the  enemy's  cavalry  some 
distance  in  advance  of  the  American  line,  found  the  right  flank  of  the  enemy 
wholly  exposed  to  him,  and  had  a  fair  view  of  the  confusion  existing  in  their 
ranks.  "  They  are  coming  on  like  a  mob,  give  them  a  fire  and  I  will  charge 
them,"  was  the  message  delivered,  and  the  messenger  galloppcd  back  to  join 
bis  command.  At  that  instant  Pickens  showed  himself  above  the  second  hill, 
advancing  to  support  the  right,  and  in  twenty  minutes  more  the  whole  British 
army  were  in  possession  of  the  Americans. 

No  sooner  was  the  resolution  taken  to  halt  and  resume  the  action,  than  the 
order  flew  to  right  and  left ;  "  Face  about,  give  them  one  fire  and  the  victory 
is  ours,"  was  reiterated  by  Morgan  as  he  passed  along  the  line.  It  was 
promptly  obeyed;  the  enemy  were  within  thirty  yards,  tumultuously  shouting 
and  rapidly  advancing;  scarcely  a  man  of  the  Americans  raised  his  gun  to  his 
shoulder;  when  their  fire  was  delivered,  they  were  in  an  attitude  for  using  the 
bayonet,  and  the  terrible  pas  de  charge  in  a  few  steps  brought  them  to  that 
crisis  which  ever  terminates  in  victory  or  defeat — the  bayonets  of  the  two 
armies  were  interlocked.  The  enemy  threw  down  their  arms  and  fell  upon 
their  faces.  Happy  was  it  for  the  honour  of  the  American  arms,  that  the 


'382  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE, 

CHAP,  soldiers  now  found  before  them  only  a  prostrate  enemy.  These  were  the  men 
^^l^and  this  the  commander  who  had  massacred  the  troops  under  Bufort,  and 
"Tarleton's  quarters"  had  already  rung  from  right  to  left.  But  Howard  (and 
humanity  seems  identified  with  the  name)  anxiously. exclaiming  "  Give  them 
quarters,"  soon  had  the  pleasure  to  sec,  that  an  American  soldier  could  not 
shed  the  blood  of  a  conquered  enemy. 

There  was  much  yet  to  be  done  on  the  field  of  battle.  The  71st  had  got 
upon  Howard's  right,  the  dragoons  were  also  approaching  the  same  vulnerable 
point,  and  Washington  had  his  hands  full  in  front  with  the  artillerists  and  the 
cavalry  of  the  enemy's  wings.  But  Morgan's  measures  were  taken  with 
promptness,  and  his  orders  obeyed  with  alacrity.  One  company  advanced  to 
the  support  of  Washington,  three  remained  in  charge  of  the  prisoners,  and  the 
right  battalion  wheeled  upon  the  71st. 

The  affair  in  this  quarter  now  became  very  animated.  In  vain  did  Tarleton 
urge  forward  his  dragoons.  Pickens'  marksmen  had  now  opened  upon  them, 
and  they  literally  broke  away  with  a  "  sauve  qui  pen" 

.  These  dragoons  never  fought  well ;  they  had  repeatedly  hacked  to  pieces  a 
flying,  unarmed,  or  supplicating  enemy,  but  neither  at  Blaekstocks,  in  this 
affair,  or  any  other  did  they  ever  do  any  thing  to  distinguish  themselves  in  fair 
conflict. 

How  unlike  was  theirs  to  the  conduct  of  the  British  artillery.  This  devoted 
corps,  thrown  in  the  rear  by  the  advance  of  the  line,  abandoned  by  the  cavalry, 
.  supported  only  by  a  fayv  fugitives  of  the  infantry,  seemed  resolved  to  surrender 
their  guns  only  with  their  lives.  There  was  no  time  to  parley,  the  busy  scenes 
now  acting  in  every  part  of  the  field  obliged  the  Americans  to  act  towards 
these  brave  men,  with  a  dispatch  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  esteem  which 
their  noble  conduct  inspired.  They  were  mostly  killed  or  wounded  by  the 
time  that  Tarleton,  with  a  number  of  mounted  officers,  and  all  that  remained 
to  him  of  his  cavalry  about  fifty  in  number,  arrived  to  support  them.  It  was 
here  and  in  this  part  of  the  contest,  that  occurred  that  memorable  conflict  from 
which  Colonel  Washington  so  narrowly  escaped.* 


*  The  affair  thus  occurred.  Whilst  Washington  was  engaged  with  the  artillerists  Colonel  Tarle 
ton,  at  the  head  of  all  the  cavalry  who  could  follow  him,  hastened  to  their  relief.  Washington  per 
ceiving  liis  approach,  ordered  his  men  to  charge  and  dashed  forward  himself.  Tarleton  prudently 
commanded  a  retreat.  Being  of  course  in  the  rear  of  his  men,  and  looking  behind,  he  perceived  thai 
Washington  V.MS  very  near  him  and  full  thirty  yards  ahead  of  his  troops.  Attended  by  two  of  his 
officers,  he  advanced  to  inwt  Washington.  One  of  his  officers  led,  and  parrying  a  blow  aimed  at 
him  by  Washington,  the  sword  of  the  latter  proved  of  inferior  temper  and  broke  midway.  The 


'MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  383 

In  the  mean  time  all  was  over  with  the  British  army  on  the  extreme  right  of  CHAP. 
the  Americans.     The  71st  exhibited  for  some  dine  a  firm  countenance, 


maintained  their  order  to  the  last.  But  when  the  cavalry  lied,  and  the  whole 
weight  of  the  American  army  pressed  upon  them,  resistance  was  vain.  They 
laid  down  their  arms,  and  Colonel  Pickens  in  person  received  the  sword  of 
their  commander  M*  Arthur.  . 

Never  was  victory  more  complete.  Not  a  corps  retired  from  the  field  under 
command,  except  the  few  cavalry  who  accompanied  Tarleton,  Washington 
pursued  the  flying  enemy  until  the  declining  sun  and  his  panting  horses,  warned 
him  to  retrace  his  steps  and  join  his  commander.  On  his  return  he  drove  be-r 
fore  him  near  one  hundred  straggling  prisoners  collected  on  his  route. 

Two  field-pieces,  (four-pounclers,)  eight  hundred  muskets,  two  stand  of 
colours,  thirty-five  baggage  waggons,  and  one  hundred  dragoon  horses  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  victors. 

The  loss  sustained  by  armies  in  battle  is  generally  as  difficult  to  be  ascer 
tained  as  the  relative  force  of  the  contending  parties.  The  British  assert  that 
the  American  loss  amounted  to  150  killed  and  wounded.  But  this  is  altoge 
ther  erroneous  ;  nor  is  their  account  entitled,  to  much  credit,  since  they  had  no 
possible  means  of  ascertaining  the  fact.  The  truth  is,  it  was  surprisingly  small 
for  an  action  kept  up  for  fifty  minutes  with  so  much  animation.  As  usual,  the 
enemy  fired  entirely  over  the  heads  of  the  Americans.  The  whole  loss  of  the 
latter  from  authentic  returns,  were  11  killed  and  61  wounded.  No  officer  of 
rank  was  among  the  killed  or  wounded. 

The  loss  admitted  by  the  enemy  to  have  been  sustained  on  this  occasion  was, 
150  killed  and  wounded  and  400  prisoners.  The  accounts  published  at  the 
time  by  the  Americans,  stated  150  killed,  200  wounded,  and  500  prisoners, 


next  effort  must  have  brought  Washington  to  the  ground.  But  a  little  Henchman  not  fourteen  years 
old,  wh.o  was  devoted  to  his  master,  and  carried  no  other  weapon  but  a  pistol  at  his  saddle-bow,  had 
pressed  forward  to  share  or  avert  the  danger  that  threatened  his  beloved  colonel,  and  arrived  in  time 
to  discharge  the  contents  of  his  pistol  into  the  shoulder  that  brandished  the  sword  over  Washington's 
head.  It  fell  powerless,  but  the  other  officer  had  already  raised  his  sword  to  inflict  the  wound,  when 
Serjeant-Major  Perry  reached  the  side  of  his  commander  just  in  time  to  receive  the  sword-arm  of  the 
officer  upon  the  edge  of  his  extended  weapon.  The  wound  also  broke  'his  blow.  But  Colonel  Tarle 
ton  in  the  mean  time  was  securely  aiming  another  from  his  pistol.  The  noble  animal  that  bore 
Washington  was  destined  to  receive  the  ball  that  had,  rather  discourteously,  been  aimed  at  his  rider. 
Poor  Perry's  destiny  was  bound  up  with  that  of  his  commander,  for  at  the  battle  of  Eutaw,  when  the 
latter  was  made  prisoner,  Perry  by  the  same  discharge  fell  under  five  wuiuids.  We  are  uninformed, 
but  believe  that  he  never  recovered  from  them. 


384  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE". 

cxc^us"lve  °f  tne  Bounded.  Historians  have  generally  estimated  the  slain  of 
enemy  at  100,  and  it  probably  did  not  equal  that  number.  But  their  loss 
in  officers  was  very  great.  At  least  one  tenth  of  the  killed  and  wounded  were 
commissioned  officers.  Ten,  almost  all  where  the  militia  delivered  their  fire, 
were  found  on  the  field  of  battle.  Hence  that  irretrievable  confusion  which 
the  writers  on  both  sides  admit  to  have  ensued  in  the  British  line. 

The  world  is  at  present  in  possession  of  the  means  of  ascertaining  with  tole 
rable  precision  the  actual  amount  of  the  British  loss.  "This  is  in  the  correspon 
dence  between  Cornwallis  and  Clinton,  in  which  the  former  admits  a  loss  in 
this  affair  of  700  men.  But  by  comparing  the  returns  of  the  British  army  of 
the  15th  of  January  and  1st  of  February,  we  find  the  diminution  amounting 
to  784  men.  Which  number  agrees  with  other  facts  in  our  possession  on  the 
same  subject;  for,  Major  Hyrne,  the  commissary  of  prisoners,  received  of 
Morgan,  600  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Catawba,  and  this  will  leave  184  for  the 
killed  and  wounded,  probably  the  true  number;  we  may  estimate  the  slain  at 
sixty. 

Among  the  booty  taken  on  this  occasion  and  probably  among  the  causes, 
why  the  enemy  were  beatrn,  must  be  included  a  great  number  (it  is  said 
seventy)  negro  slaves.  The  luxury  of  being  waited  upon,  it  would  seem,  had 
spread  among  the  British  officers  along  with  the  facility  of  obtaining  expert 
waiting  men.  Nor  were  waiting  women  at  that  time  altogether  unknown  in 
the  British  camp;  but  Tarleton  had  a  few  days  before  disembarrassed  himself 
of  a  swarm  of  the  latter.  The  slaves  were  of  course  returned  to  their  original 
owners;  but  having  been  originally  included  among  the  prisoners,  their  num 
ber  swelled  that  of  the  former  up  to  the  American  estimate  of  850  killed, 
wounded  and  taken. 

If  the  reader  has  perused  Colonel  Tarleton's  account  of  this  affair,  he  will 
be  surprised  to  find  that  officer  taking  credit,  for  having  performed  two  gallant 
feats  as  he  left  tlie  field.  The  one  was  repulsing  Washington's  whole  com 
mand  with  fifty  of  his  dragoons  and  fourteen  mounted  officers;  the  other,  dis 
persing  an  American  party  which  had  seized  upon  his  baggage.  It  was  a  bold 
attempt,  to  adorn  his  crest  with  plumes  which  there  existed  so  mar.y  hands  to 
pluck  away.  These  feats  dwindle  astonishingly  upon  a  candid  investigation  of 
facts. 

The  personal  rencounter  with  Washinhton  in  which  his  sword  was  broken, 
was  the  ground  work  on  which  imagination  got  up  a  repulse  of  his  whole 
corps.  The  other  was  a  ludicrous  incident.  The  reader  must  be  prepared 
for  such  an  event,  when  he  is  told  of  an  American  party  which  had  prrcrdrd 
the  flight  of  the  enemy  and  taken  possession  of  his  baggage.  Colonel  Tarlctow 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  385 

bad  in  his  train  a  party  of  about  fifty  loyalists,  good  woodsmen,  excellent  CHAP. 
marksmen,  but  great  plunderers  and  scoundrels.  They  were  beneficially  ^^^^^ 
employed  as  spies  and  expresses.  These  men,  having  moved  off  at  a  conve 
nient  season  during  the  action,  and  finding  the  baggage  abandoned,  very  laud 
ably  entered  upon  the  work  of  saving  what  they  could  of  the  officers'  effects 
from  the  enemy,  by  appropriating  it  to  their  own  use.  Alarmed  by  the  tram 
pling  of  Tarleton's  horses  as  they  approached,  these  zealous  loyalists  hastened 
then*  retreat  to  the  bushes,  imagining  that  the  enemy  was  upon  them.  This 
movement,  with  the  identity  of  dress  and  accoutrements,  presented  them  to 
their  friends  as  a  party  of  their  enemies ;  and  the  wrath  of  the  mortified  dra 
goons  was  let  loose  upon  all  who  were  not  fortunate  enough  to  make  good 
their  retreat,  or  secure  themselves  from  the  sword  by  the  body  of  a  waggon. 

It  is  an  observation  of  Colonel  Lee's,  that  "  the  British  cavalry  having  taken 
no  part  in  the  action,  except  the  troops  attached  to  the  line,  were  in  force  to 
cover  the  retreat."  But  in  this  the  colonel  is  in  part  mistaken.  That  there 
were  two  hundred  of  them  remaing  unhurt,  and  that  if  they  had  kept  together, 
both  the  baggage  and  the  fugitives  might  have  been  brought  off,  is  perhaps 
true;  for  Morgan  could  not  have  spared  the  time  or  men  necessary  to  disperse 
them.  But  the  fact  is,  that  the  cavalry  on  that  day  had  been  handled  very 
roughly,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  capture  of  one  hundred  of  their  horses.  One 
third  of  their  number  had  fallen  under  the  sword  of  the  American  cavalry,  or 
the  deadly  aim  of  the  riflemen.  In  the  two  attacks  made,  first  upon  tlje 
advanced  party  and  then  upon  the  American  right,  opportunities  had  been 
presented  and  successfully  improved,  of  using  that  weapon  with  effect.  Colo 
nel  Tarleton  acknowledges  that  they  were  reduced  to  two  hundred  and  fifty. 
but  the  British  returns  of  the  1st  February  give  one  hundred  and  seventy-four 
as  the  total  of*  the  legion  remaining  on  that  day.  So  that  the  cavalry  of  the 
enemy,  admitting  that  none  of  the  infantry  -escaped,  must  have  been  greatly 
reduced  in  this  action. 

Morgan  was  neither  dazzled,  nor  lulled  into  security  by  his  signal  success. 
Reasoning  to  what  his  adversary  would  do,  from  a  knowledge  of  what  he 
ought  to  do,  he  made  no  doubt  that  Cormvallis  would  be  in  motion  to  cut  him 
off  from  retreat  before  night.  His  distance  was  not  much  above  25  miles, 
and  the  speed  of  the  terrified  and  flying  cavalry  would  complete  that  distance 
in  five  or  six  hours.  It  was  not  yet  noon  when  the  battle  was  terminated,  and 
be  knew  that  the  main  army  had  been  for  some  days  held  under  marching 
orders.  He  halted,  no  longer  on  the  field  of  battle  than  to  refresh  his  men 
and  prisoners,  and  make  the  dispositions  which  humanity  required  of  him;  and 
moved  across  the  Broad  river  the  same  evening. 

49 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

Colonel  Pickcns  with  a  suitable  detachment  of  mounted  militia,  was  left 
,  upon  the  field  of  battle  to  bury  the  dead  and  provide  for  the  wants  and  com 
forts  of  the  wounded  of  both  armies.  This  duty  was  discharged  with  all  the 
care  and  diligence  of  a  brave  and  benevolent  man.  The  baggage  of  the  enemy 
furnished  an  abundant  supply  of  tents,  (the  Americans  had  none,)  and  com 
forts  and  even  luxuries  were  drawn  from  the  same  source  without  sparing. 
After  making  every  possible  provision  for  their  care  and  attendance,  the 
wounded  of  both  armies  were  left  upon  the  field  of  battle  under  a  safeguard 
and  a  flag,  and  the  next  day  Pickens  rejoined  his  commander. 
.  Early  in  the  morning  Morgan  had  resumed  his  march,  anxiously  expecting 
the  return  of  his  patroles  with  intelligence  that  the  enemy  was  at  hand;  but 
never  was  surprise  or  relief  greater,  than  when  authentic  intelligence  was 
received,  not  only  that  the  enemy  had  not  moved,  but  exhibited  no  present 
evidence  of  an  intention  to  move  on  that  day.  Still,  however,  he  pressed  his 
march  to  reach  the  fords  of  the  Catawba,  and  escape  interruption  from  the 
rise  of  the  waters.  He  felt  himself  still  within  the  power  of  his  adversary,  and 
resolved  to  spare  no  pains  to  escape  his  grasp. 

It  is  truly  astonishing  that  Lord  Cornwallis  has  not  only  escaped  all  censure 
for  suffering  his  enemy  to  elude  him  and  carry  ofT  prisoners,  arms,  ammuni 
tion,  artillery,  every  tiling  in  triumph,  but  has  been  most  extravagantly  eulo 
gized  for  his  conduct  on  this  occasion;  yet  it  is  most  certain  that,  under  the 
favour  of  providence,  Morgan  owed  his  escape  to  the  supineness  and  indeci 
sion  of  his  adversary. 

At  the  time  the  battle  was  fought,  the  position  of  the  two  armies  was  nearly 
equidistant  from  the  point  of  concurrence  of  the  two  roads  by  which  the  one 
must  retreat,  (if  North  Carolina  was  his  object,)  and  the  other  might  pursue. 
The  time  necessary'to  convey  intelligence  of  the  defeat  could  not  exceed  that 
which  must  have  been  consumed  in  the  cares  devolved  upon  Morgan  by  his 
very  victory.  And  Cornwallis  being  already  on  the  east  side  of  Broad  River, 
which  Morgan  must  cross,  had  in  his  favour  the  time  which  the  latter  necessa 
rily  consumed  in  the  passage  of  the  river,  and  which  could  not  have  been  less 
than  what  was  necessary  to  put  in  motion  an  army  under  marching  orders. 
To  these  considerations  we  must  add,  that  the  British  army  was  at  this  time 
completely  rested,  refreshed  and  recruited,  and  abundantly  furnished  with 
every  thing  necessary-  to  give  vigour  and  promptness  to  its  movements. 

On  the  other  hand,  Morgan's  army  had  begun  its  march  after  the  fatigues  of 
a  hard-fought  day.  It  was  not  encumbered  with  its  own  baggage,  because 
almost  destitute  of  every  thing;  but  it  was  embarrassed  with  a  mass  of  prison 
ers  equalling  two  thirds  of  bis  whole  force,  and  perseveringly  dragging  after  it, 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  387 

a  prize  too  valuable  to  be  relinquished.     The  heavy  baggage  of  the  enemy,   CHAP. 
after  supplying  the  wants  of  the  wounded,  Morgan  had  consumed,  but  the  x^-v^x^ 
muskets,  artillery,  and  ammunition,  were  too  much  wanted  to  be  relinquished 
while  a  hope  of  saving  them  remained.     With  all  this  he  moved  so  slowly 
as  not  to  have  reached  the  north  fork  or  main  stream  of  the  Catawba  until 
the  23d. 

Where  was  the  British  commander  during  this  time?  The  precious  and 
irretrievable  day  of  the  18th,  the  day  after  the  action,  he  consumed  entire  in 
his  encampment,  "to  effect,"  as  he  tells  us,  "a  junction  with  Leslie,  and  collect 
the  fugitives  of  Tarleton's  detachment."  In  war,  days  arc  years.  Here  again, 
the  notable  manoeuvre  of  ordering  Leslie  to  halt  at  Camden,  "  that  General 
Greene  might  be  uncertain  of  his  intended  movements  as  long  as  possible,"* 
reiroacted  upon  the  British  commander  with  fatal  consequences.  It  is  impos 
sible  to  jusfif}  this  delay,  except  upon  the  supposition  that  Cormvallis,  deceived 
by  the  exaggerated  account  which  Tarleton,  to  palliate  his  defeat,  had  com 
municated  of  the  American  force,  had  formed  the  opinion  that  it  was  superior 
to  his  own.  This  inference  is  fairly  deducible  from  the  representation  of  that 
force,  which  Colonel  Tarleton,  in  his  publication,  has  palmed  upon  the  world. 
He  may  have  believed  that  his  enemy  numbered  two  thousand  four  hundred  ; 
but  it  is  astonishing  that  he  should  have  believed  it,  after  deliberately  reconnoi 
tring  his  force,  obtaining  the  most  authentic  intelligence,  and  measuring  his 
line  by  his  own.  \V'e  take  his  own  acknowledgments. 

Had  Cornwallis  immediately  on  receiving  intelligence  of  the  disaster  his 
detachment  had  encountered,  put  in  motion  one  thousand  infantry  and  a  few 
pieces  of  light  artillery,  with  orders  to  the  cavalry  to  follow,  after  resting  for 
the  night,  it  is  unquestionable  that  he  must  have  overtaken  General  Morgan 
at  Ramsour's  Mills,  where  their  roads  united  and  crossed  the  south  fork  of  the 
Catawba.  For  his  baggage  he  had  nothing  to  apprehend,  since  he  could  still 
have  left  a  sufficient  guard  for  its  protection,  and  the  army  of  General  Leslie 
was  encamped  on  the  night  before  at  so  short  a  distance  as  to  have  joined  him 
early  on  the  18th.  Morgan,  with  numbers  diminished  by  the  preceding  battle, 
numerous  detachments  ever  out  to  collect  provisions,  and  one  third  of  his  force 
at  least,  appropriated  to  guarding  the  prisoners,  could  have  done  nothing 
against  one  thousand  of  such  infantry  as  Cornwallis  had  under  him.  He  must 
have  abandoned  his  prisoners  and  baggage,  mounted  his  infantry  behind  his 
militia,  and  escaped  by  a  hurried  march,  or  fled  to  the  mountains  on  his  left. 


*  See  the  Correspondence,  &e.  p.  24. 


388  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.   Even  after  the  loss  of  the  18th,  when  joined  by  the  division  of  Leslie,  the 
A^-V-^,  means  were  still  in  Lord  Cornvvallis'  power  of  reaching  his  adversary. 

The  immense  attirail  of  the  army,  prepared  for  an  entire  campaign  and  a 
junction  with  the  forces  under  Philips,  could  not  but  have  furnished  a  sufficient 
number  of  horses  to  have  mounted  and  pushed  forward  one  thousand  infantry 
by  forced  marches  for  two  days,  either  directly  upon  Morgan,  or  by  a  route 
which,  crossing  the  Little  Catawba  near  its  junction  with  the  Great,  leads  up 
the  west  bank  of  the  latter  stream,  so  as  to  intersect  the  route  which  Morgan 
was  pursuing.  This  route  would  also  have  presented  the  advantage  of  leading 
through  a  country  not  exhausted  by  the  recent  march  of  the  army  he  was  pur 
suing,  an  inconvenience  which,  it  appears,  he  felt  when  too  late,  in  pursuing 
the  route  by  Ramsours  Mills.  But  the  commander,  whose  vigour,  activity, 
and  sacrifices  on  this  occasion,  have  animated  the  pens  both  of  British  and 
American  writers,  not  pursuing  either  of  these  measures,  contented  himself 
with  putting  the  whole  army  in  motion  on  the  19th,  dragging  after  him  in  the 
chase  a  lengthened  train  of  cum berous  baggage,  and  employing  his  still  respect 
able  cavalry  to  no  other  use  than  reconnoitring  the  field  of  battle,  with  orders 
to  return  under  protection  of  his  camp  before  night.* 

This  vigorous  pursuit  after  an  enemy  of  whose  activity  and  enterprise  he 
had  had  sufficient  evidence,  brought  Cornwallis  to  Ramsour's  Mills  on  the 
25thf — a  place  which,  if  we  credit  Colonel  Tarleton,  he  ought  to  have 
reached  by  the  day  of  the  battle.  Had  he  done  so,  Morgan's  victory  would, 
have  availed  him  litde ;  for,  to  cross  the  Catawba  in  the  rear  of  Cornwallis, 
would  have  been  impossible,  since  Leslie  advancing  at  that  time  to  join  the 
latter,  would  have  intercepted  him ;  and  could  he  have  reached  the  mountains 
on  his  left,  he  could  not  have  passed  them  with  his  baggage,  or  probably  with 
his  prisoners,  for  want  of  subsistence,  and  would  have  been  in  that  case,  effec 
tually  cut  off  from  forming  a  junction  with  Greene.  Or  had  Cornwallis  pur 
sued  the  design  originally  attributed  to  him,  of  pressing  Leslie  up  the  east  side 
of  the  Catawbp,  whilst  he  ascended  on  the  west,  Morgan's  escape  would  have 
been  most  certainly  intercepted.  And  the  British  divisions  would  still  have 
been  so  near  to  each  other  as  to  have  easily  formed  a  junction  on  the  approach 
of  Greene.  Though,  had  the  British  commander  been  well  informed  of  the 
weak  and  destitute  state  of  the  main  southern  army,  he  would  not  have  been 
disquieted  on  that  subject;  neither  could  he  have  entertained  a  fear  of  the 
militia  on  the  east  side  of  the  Catawba,  had  he  been  in  possession  of  that 


9  Tarkton's  Campaign,  p.  222.  1  See  hip  ktter,  ani* 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  & 

intelligence  which  his  connection  with  the  loyalists  of  that  country,  and  other   CHAP. 
advantages  which  he  possessed,  might  have  insured  to  him.  s^v 

The  escape  of  Morgan  has  been  generally  atributed  to  an  extraordinary 
interposition  of  providence  in  raising  the  waters  of  the  Catawba  between  the 
night  that  he  passed  it  and  the  morning  following,  when  die  British  reached  it. 
The  incident  was  handsomely  worked  up  in  the  papers  of  the  day,  and  having 
some  foundation  in  truth,  the  circulation  was  favoured,  since  it  served  the  pur 
poses  of  both  parties.  To  the  British  it  furnished  an  excuse,  and  to  the  Ame 
ricans  a  fine  subject  for  working  upon  the  enthusiasm  of  die  people.  But  a 
simple  reference  to  original  documents  respecting  dates,  will  prove  that  Corn 
wallis  was  neither  so  pressing,  nor  Morgan  so  pressed  as  to  need  the  interposi 
tion  of  a  miracle  to  check  the  one,  or  save  the  other. 

Much  error  has  crept  into  the  details  of  the  events  of  the  period  between  the 
time  when  Cornwallis  commenced  his  pursuit,  and  the  1st  of  February,  when 
he  crossed  the  main  stream  of  the  Catawba.  Neither  the  actions  nor  motives 
of  the  rival  commanders  appear  to  have  been  well  understood,  or  correcdy 
explained.  Dazzled  with  the  magnanimity  of  the  sacrifice  made  by  Cornwal 
lis  in  destroying  his  baggage  in  order  to  give  speed  to  his  movements,  histo 
rians  shut  their  eyes  upon  the  concomitant  errors  which  rendered  that  sacrifice 
in  the  first  instance,  vain  -and  useless,  and  finally,  fatal  to  the  British  comman 
der.  On  the  other  hand,  the  American  commanders,  satisfied  with  having 
secured  to  their  country  the  benefit  of  their  manoeuvres,  were  willing  to  sacri 
fice  a  portion  of  their  military  merit,  that  they  might  secure  to  the  service  die 
eclat  of  an  imputed  miracle  in  behalf  of  their  cause. 

Several  authors  mention  the  destruction  of  the  baggage  as  a  measure  prepa 
ratory  to  Cornwallis'  first  movement.  Had  this  been  the  case,  it  would  have 
afforded  an  excuse  for  the  loss  of  the  1 8th,  a  day  which  he  never  did  recover. 
But  the  fact  was  not  so;  it  was  at  Ramsour's  Mills  that  he  destroyed  his  bag 
gage,  six  days  after  the  commencement  of  his  march,  and  when  his  adversary 
had  already,  two  days  before,  passed  the  other  branch  of  the  Catawba,  twenty 
miles  in  advance  of  him.  Nor  is  this  all ;  he  consumed  two  days  at  that  place 
in  the  performance  of  this  work  and  the  collection  of  provisions,  and  did  not 
resume  his  march  until  the  28th.* 

In  the  mean  time,  had  his  adversary  been  disposed  to  do  so,  he  could  easily 
have  advanced  too  far  beyond  the  North  Catawba  to  have  been  again  ap 
proached  by  his  enemy.  But  Greene  had  now  joined  him  in  person,  though 


See  his  letter,  Correspondence.  &c,  p.  25- 


390  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  with  no  reinforcement.  And  it  was  resolved  to  make  a  stand  on  the  east  bank 
<^-^~*u  °f  tnut  river,  to  endeavour  to  check  the  advance  of  the  British  army,  that  the 
prisoners  and  baggage  which  had  never  been  halted,  should  be  secured  from 
molestation  while  hurried  on  to  the  interior  of  Virginia. 

Thus  like  those  birds,  which  instinctively  throw  themselves  into  the  way  of 
die  fowler  and  imitate  death  or  decrepitude  to  draw  him  away  from  their 
young,  Morgan's  little  army  braved  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  to  detach  him 
from  the  pursuit  of  the  object  of  their  solicitude, — the  trophies  of  the  day  of  the 
Cowpens,  by  inviting  him  to  exhaust  his  eilorts  on  themselves. 

It  was  during  the  march  of  Lord  Cornwallis  from  Ramsour's  Mills  that  the 
swell  of  the  waters  of  the  Great  Catawba  took  place,*  and  not  on  the  night  of 
the  day  on  which  Morgan  crossed  that  river.  It  is  correctly  stated  by  Colonel 
Lee  and  others  to  have  occurred  on  the  night  of  the  29th,  but  the  American 
army  had  crossed  several  days  before.  And  the  prisoners  were  then  so  far 
advanced  on  their  march,  that  Greene  might  have  left  the  bank  of  the  river 
without  apprehension,  had  not  the  height  of  the  water  given  him  more  time  to 
endeavour  to  collect  die  militia,  and  if  successful  in  this  effort,  to  dispute  the 
passage  of  the  river,  until  his  main  army  should  have  advanced  sufficiently  up 
die  country  to  facilitate  his  reaching  them  by  a  few  forced  marches.  To  have 
collected  in  this  neighbourhood  a  considerable  reinforcement  of  militia,  was  an 
object  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  every  hope  of  this  must  be  abandoned 
the  moment  the  troops  under  Morgan  should  move  away. 


*  See  his  letters  before  referred  to. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  39f 


CHAPTER  X 


State  of  the  Southern  army.  Moves  to  Guilford.  Morgan's  retreat  from  the 
Catawba.  Junction  at  Guilford.  Movement  across  the  Dan.  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  in  pursuit,  reaches  the  Dan.  Retires  to  Hillsborough.  Greene  recrosses 
the  Dan.  Interesting  manoeuvres.  Affair  with  Colonel  Pyles,  of  Alemance 
Creek,  of  WetzeVs  Mills.  Dash  at  the  Ameiican  reinforcements.  Greene 
throws  himself  in  face  of  the  enemy.  Lord  Cornwallis  retires  to  Deep  river. 
American  army  moves  to  Guilford. 


IjENERAL  Greene  had  been  called  to  the  banks  of  the  Catawba,  by  Intel-   CHAP. 
ligence  of  Morgan's  victory.     It  will  be  recollected  that  we  left  him  on  the , 
banks  of  the  Pee  Dee,  prosecuting  enterprises  against  the  enemy's  posts  in  the 
interior,  at  the  moment  when  this  interesting  piece  of  intelligence  was  received. 
This  was  on  the  evening  of  the  2oth  of  January,  and  the  army  was  immedi 
ately  put  under  marching  orders. 

The  situation  of  Greene  was  at  that  time  truly  tantalizing.  With  the  finest 
opening  imaginable  for  rendering  important  service  and  increasing  his  mili 
tary  reputation,  under  circumstances  too,  calculated  greatly  to  excite  public 
expectation  and  increase  the  demand  upon  him  for  some  brilliant  achievement, 
he  found  himself  without  men,  without  money,  without  clothing,  and  so  sc«ait 
even  of  provisions  as  to  be  obliged  to  gather  the  corn  from  the  field,  pre 
pare  it  for  the  mill,  and  guard  the  mill  during  the  process  of  converting  it  into 


x. 


392  MAJOR  GENERAL  GKEENE. 

CHAP.  meal.  Such  and  so  many  had  been  the  interruptions  to  the  labours  of  the 
N^-V~^  husbandman,  that  at  that  late  day,  much  of  the  Indian  corn,  (the  only  grain 
cultivated  in  that  country,)  still  remained  ungathered.  As  to  men,  notwith 
standing  the  reinforcements  lately  received  under  Colonels  Greene  and  Lee, 
his  regular  force,  including  that  under  Morgan  and  every  other  detachment  in 
the  field,  did  not  exceed  1426  infantry,  47  artillerists,  and  230  cavalry.  In 
addition  to  which  he  had  with  him  about  400  militia.  But  both  the  regulars 
and  militia  were  for  ever  fluctuating  in  number;  for,  the  continentals  of  the 
Virginia  line  having  been  enlisted  for  various  periods  of  service,  and  calculat 
ing  their  time  from  the  date  of  enlistment,  were  continually  claiming  their  dis 
charges  ;  and  their  commander  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  daily  his  best 
troops  drop  off  in  detail. 

As  to  the  militia,  most  generally,  being  volunteers  they  came  and  went 
when  they  pleased;  or  being  summoned  into  service  for  a  short  time,  one  half 
of  their  term  was  consumed  in  marching  and  countermarching,  and  they 
could  never  be  calculated  upon  for  a  week  together. 

As  to  money,  he  literally  had  none.  There  was  not  a  dollar  in  the  military 
chest  when  he  assumed  the  command,  and  for  two  months  after,  he  had  not 
wherewith  to  bear  the  expense  of  his  expresses:  they  had  to  live  at  free 
quarters  in  traversing  the  country.  He  had  even  occasionally  to  borrow  from 
his  officers,  when  money  became  indispensable  for  secret  services.  Congress, 
it  is  true,  at  the  earnest  instances  of  Mr.  John  Mathcws,  voted  him  a  supply  of 
10,000  hard  dollars,  deemed  at  that  time  a  great  stretch  of  liberality;  but  we 
cannot  find  that  he  ever  received  a  cent  of  it.  The  only  supply  that  came  to 
the  hands  of  the  paymaster  during  the  whole  campaign,  arose  from  the  sale  of 
bills  on  our  ambassadors  abroad, — an  expedient  w-hich  shed  a  momentary 
gleam  over  his  prospects,  but  soon  left  him  in  total  darkness.* 


*  This  measure  of  finance,  it  will  be  recollected,  was  adopted  by  congress  at  a  time  when  they 
were  literally  pennyless.  As  it  was  in  its  nature  temporary  and  speculative,  it  soon  faltered  and 
tailed.  The  great  relief  which  it  at  first  afforded  to  the  necessities  of  the  United  States  made  several 
persons  emulous  of  arrogating  the  praise  of  it.  We  will  not  undertake  to  say  with  whom  it  origi 
nated,  but  we  have  furnished  the  reader  with  an  extract  of  a  letter  to  Mr.  Matlock  in  congress,  which 
shows  that  General  Greene  had  pressed  it  upon  that  body,  as  the  means  of  clothing  the  army.  It 
certainly  is  spoken  of  in  the  correspondence  of  the  day  as  "  his  plan  ;"  and  that,  whilst  yet  in  the 
quarter-master-general's  department.  He  recommended  its  adoption  as  soon  as  the  negochtion  com 
menced  for  borrowing  money  abroad.  He  had  received  letters  from  Commodore  Giilon  and  Mr. 
Adams,  from  which  he  concluded  that  the  negociation  for  loans  would  be  successful,  and  urs^d  the 
necessity  <?f  adopting  this  method  of  anticipating  the  result.  There  was  at  that  time  a  considerable 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  833 

As  to  clothing,  the  situation  of  the  southern  army  had  been  recently  some-   CHAP. 
what  improved ;  otherwise  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  take  the  field,  s^-v^/ 
Early  in  January  several  hundreds  of  the  troops  actually  could  not  appear  at 
drill,  or  perform  guard-duty,  for  want  of  clothing.     They  had  not  even  what 
was  indispensable  to  decency,  notwithstanding  the  small  supply,  gathered  with    , 
Infinite  difficulty  in  North  Carolina,  which  had  enabled  General  Gates  to 
furnish   his   men  with   a  single  suit.      What  they  thus  obtained,  was  light 
and  scanty,  by  no  means  such  as  was  necessary  to  comfort,  in  a  march  to  the 
north  at  that  inclement  season  of  the  year.     The  following  brief  extract  of  a 
letter  of  the  loth  January  to  General  Surnpter,  needs  no  comment:     "  It  is  a 
great  misfortune  that  the  little  force  we  have  is  in  such  a  wretched  state  for 
want  of  clothing.     More  than 'one  half  our  numbers  are  in  a  manner  naked, 

O 

so  much  so  that  we  cannot  put  them  on  the  least  kind  of  duty.  Indeed,  there 
is  a  great  number  that  have  not  a  rag  of  clothes  on  them  except  a  little  piece  of 
blanket,  in  the  Indian  form  around  their  waists." 

But  there  was  no  time  now  for  hesitation,  every  hardship  must  be  encoun 
tered,  every  thing  put  to  hazard,  to  succour  General  Morgan  and  intercept  the 
march  of  the  enemy  through  the  state  of  Virginia.  Reinforcements,  supplies, 
«very  thing  on  which  the  hope  of  a  successful  opposition  could  have  rested) 


forced  trade  carried  on  with  Europe,  and  as  shipments  could  not  be  made  of  produce  to  moot  the 
purchase  of  articles  adapted  to  this  trade,  money  was  very  much  wanted  in  Europe  by  the  traders  in 
America.  The  enemy  had  hitherto  supplied  the  bills  which  the  trade  required,  and  drawn  to  them 
many  of  the  advantages  resulting  from  this  branch  of  commerce.  As  it  was  known  that  congress 
Uad  opened  negociations  for  loans  in  Europe,  and  was  treating  even  with  the  crowned  heads  which 
favoured  their  cause,  to  obtain  advances,  these  bills  found  at  first  a  ready  sale,  as  they  were  naturally 
supposed  to  be  drawn  upon  funds  realized,  and  not  upon  speculation.  But  the  delusion  soon  va 
nished;  a  minority  seldom  suffers  such  measures  to  remain  secret  long,  and  the  market  either  became 
glutted,  or  the  truth  leaked  out  too  soon  to  permit  the  southern  army  to  reap  much  benefit  from  this 
-project. 

The  commissary  of  purchases  for  the  southern  army  at  that  time  was  Mr.  Joseph  Clay,  a  highly 
respectable,  intelligent,  and  patriotic  gentleman  from  the  state  of  Georgia.  Deprived  of  an  ample 
estate,  and  driven  into  banishment,  he  at  present  resided  at  Xewbern ;  and  by  his  integrity,  assiduity, 
and  knowledge  of  business,  contributed  to  the  utmost  of  the  means  allowed  him,  to  prom'ote  the  inte 
rests  of  the  southern" army  through  the  medium  of  the  fast-sailing  vessels  that  traded  between  the 
Pamptico  and  Albemarle  Sounds,  and  the  neutral  or  friendly  islands  in  the  West  Indies.  To  him 
the  bills  allotted  for  the  southern  army  were  transmitted;  some  he  succeeded  in  selling  or  passing  off 
in  purchasing,  and  a  small  amount  of  them  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  General  Greene  for  negocia- 
tion.  Some  money  was  reali/.ed  for  these,  but  the  amount  «as  quite  inconsiderable,  and  exhausted  in 
the  purchase  of  hospital  and  other  stores. 

50 


394  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  would  have  been  cut  off,  could  Lord  Cormvallis  have  succeeded  in  destroying 
•^rv-^  Morgan,  and  securing  a  position  beyond  the  Roanoke, 

The  25th,  26th,  and  27th  of  January,  General  Greene  employed  in  making 
the  indispensable  arrangements  for  the  march  of  his  army,  and  on  the  28th  he 
committed,  what  will  be  deemed  by  many  the  most  imprudent  action  of  his 
life.  With  only  a  guide,  one  aid,  and  a  Serjeant's  guard  of  cavalry,  he  struck 
across  the  country  to  join  the  army  of  General  Morgan,  and  aid  him  in  his 
arduous  operations.  The  distance  was  one  hundred  miles  at  least,  the  country 
infested  with  lories,  and  Camden  not  far  on  his  left,  where  such  a  prize  would 
have  been  liberally  paid  for.  But  there  is  less  danger  in  such  enterprises  than 
is  generally  imagined.  History  furuishes  many  instances  of  their  successful 
issue.  The  very  surprise  produces  hesitation  in  the  minds  of  many,  who,  if 
they  had  time  to  deliberate,  might  be  inclined  to  treachery;  and  the  boldness 
of  the  design  deters  or  overawes  those  who  might  be  disposed  to  make  advan 
tage  of  the  occasion. 

Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  Morgan's  victory,  orders  had  been 
dispatched  to  call  in  all  the  detachments,  and  transport  to  camp  all  the  provi 
sions  which  did  not  lie  on  die  route  of  the  intended  inarch.  Colonel  Lee  was 
instructed  to  hasten  his  return  from  below  with  all  possible  dispatch,  and  pro 
ceed  immediately  to  join  Morgan  by  the  shortest  route.  To  the  commissary  of 
purchases  were  issued  orders  to  transport  every  thing  from  the  scacoast  to  a 
place  of  safety;  to  the  several  commissaries  at  Salisbury  and  Plillsborough,  to 
hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  move  off  with  prisoners  and  stores  in  their 
charge,  into  the  upper  counties  of  Virginia;  to  the  quarter-master-general,  to 
hold  his  boats  in  readiness  on  the  Dan  and  collect  magazines  on  the  Roanoke; 
and  the  most  pressing  letters  were  written  to  the  governors  of  the  state  of  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia,  to  fill  up  their  quotas  of  regulars  and  to  call  into  the 
field  all  the  militia  they  could  command,  to  oppose  the  progress  of  the  enemy 
and  enable  the  army  to  fight  them;  to  Steuben,  to  hasten  on  his  recruits;  to 
Colonels  Shelby,  Campbell,  and  others  who  had  signalized  their  zeal  in  the 
affair  of  King's  Mountain,  were  addressed  the  most  earnest  and  flattering  letters 
reminding  them  of  the  glory  already  acquired,  and  calling  upon  them  to  come 
forward  once  more  to  save  the  country  from  invasion.  These  letters,  it  will  be 
found  commanded  very  general  attention,  and  prepared  for  the  British  army 
the  reception  they  met  with  at  Guilibrd. 

Some  extracts  of  letters  written  at  this  time  we  will  lay  before  the  reader  to 
satisfy  him  that  we  have  not  imagined  the  picture  that  we  have  presented  of 
Greene's  situation.  Many  others  to  the  same  effect  could  be  produced 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  S& 

.    To  the  late  Mr.  John  Mathews,  chairman  of  a  committee  appointed  by  con-  CHAP. 
gress  to  correspond  with  the  southern  army,  he  writes:  \^~v~*^ 

"  This  is  a  great  affair,  [the  victory  of  the  Cowpens,]  was  our  situation 
such  as  to  take  a  proper  advantage  of  it ;  but  as  it  is,  I  fear  little  good  will 
result  from  it  as  to  the  final  recovery  of  the  country. 

•'  The  situation  of  these  states  is  wretched  and  the  distress  of  the  inhabitants 
beyond  all  description.  Nor  is  the  condition  of  the  army  more  agreeable. 
We  have  but  few  troops  that  are  fit  for  duty,  and  all  those  are  employed  upon 
different  detachments,  the  success  of  which  depends  upon  time  and  chance.  , 
We  are  obliged  to  subsist  ourselves  by  our  own  industry,  aided  by  the  influence 
of  Governor  Rutledge,  who  is  one  of  the  first  characters  I  ever  met  with.  Our 
prospects  are  gloomy,  notwithstanding  these  flashes  of  success,  and  I  hope 
congress  will  not  imagine  that  Lord  Cornwallis  is  ruined  from  this  fortunate 
event.  There  is  wanting  for  the  recovery  of  this  country,  a  well-appointed 
army  consisting  of  about  5,000  infantry,  arid  6  or  800  horse.  These,  with  the 
auxiliary  aid  of  the  militia,  would  be  superior  to  any  force  the  enemy  have,  or 
can  maintain  in  this  quarter. 

•*  You  may  depend,  my  utmost  exertions  shall  not  be  wanting  to  take  every 
possible  advantage  that  our  situation  will  admit,  to  give  a  favourable  turn  to 
our  affairs  in  this  quarter;  but  unless  I  am  better  supported  than  I  have  at 
present  the  most  distant  prospect  of  being,  I  have  little  to  hope,  and  much  to 
fear." 

It  will  be  recollected  that  when  General  Greene  was  on  the  way  to  the 
south,  he  left  behind  him  General  Gist  to  urge  his  claims  on  the  legislature  of 
Maryland.  He  had  not  omitted  the  same  precaution  either  as  to  congress,  or 
the  legislatures  of  the  other  states  on  which  he  was  obliged  to  depend  for  the 
means  of  prosecuting  the  war;  he  had  rigidly  observed  his  favourite  maxim, 
that  those  whom  you  are  obliged  to  solicit  ought  not  to  be  permitted  to  forget 
you. 

To  General  Gist  he  writes  in  these  words:  "  Surely  the  states  must  be 
sufficiently  impressed  with  their  own  dangerous  situation;  and  if  they  will  not 
come  to  some  decisive  measures  for  giving  effectual  support  to  this  army,  they 
may  have  to  repent  in  the  hour  of  distress,  of  their  own  languor  and  inde 
cision. 

"These  southern  states  have  been  struggling  a  loi;g  time  with  a  superior 
force,  until  their  spirits  arc  broken,  and  the  resources  of  the  country  exhausted. 
Where  the  people  are  kept  constantly  in  arms,  they  must  live  altogether  on 
their  past  labours,  and  totally  neglect  any  future  provision.  This  is  the  situa 
tion  of  these  southern  states,  which  must  render  the  condition  of  the  inhabit- 


39S  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  ants  distressing,  and  the  support  of  the  army  impracticable.  Such  great 
vx^^,  bodies  of  militia  have  been  kept  on  foot,  and  those  subsisted  in  a  way  so  very 
expensive  and  wasteful,  that  the  states  of  North  and  South  Carolina  are  in  a 
manner  laid  waste.  Nor  can  any  state  when  invaded,  afford  considerable 
support  to  an  army  for  any  length  of  time,  it  causes  such  an  universal  obstruc 
tion  to  all  kinds  of  business.  It  is  the  states  that  are  in  tranquillity  which 
have  it  in  their  power  to  give  effectual  aid  to  an  army,  not  those  that  are  in 
distress. 

.  "  "When  I  left  Annapolis  I  was  in  great  hopes  that  the  legislature  would  have 
taken  measures  before  this  for  filling  their  regiments,  and  for  supplying  the 
waggons  which  this  army  was,  and  still  is  in  such  want  of.  The  cash  which  I 
required  was  so  essential,  and  might  have  been  obtained  so  easily  from  hun- 
dreds  of  private  gentlemen  in  Maryland,  that  I  am  surprised  it  has  not  been 
forwarded,  especially  as  I  mentioned  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  warned, 
[secret  service.]  I  persuade  myself,  if  the  state  of  Maryland  could  realise  the 
critical  situation  of  this  army  and  the  disagreeable  consequences  that  may 
follow  the  neglect  of  not  giving  it  timely  support,  we  should  not  be  long  with 
out  further  aid.  The  enemy  are  receiving  reinforcements  continually,  and 
our  numbers  are  daily  declining.  Nor  is  our  whole  collective  force  more  than 
one  third  of  theirs,  and  the  greatest  part  of  those  rendered  unfit  for  duty  for 
want  of  clothing. 

"  General  Smalhvood  is  gone  home  to  join  his  influence  to  yours,  in  order 
to  bring  out  a  seasonable  reinforcement  as  soon  as  possible.  Whatever  stores 
you  send  on  to  this  army,  give  positive  orders  to  the  waggon-master  in  writing 
not  to  deliver  to  the  order  of  any  person  whatever  except  the  Baron  Steubcn, 
until  he  arrives  in  camp.  The  agents  of  posts  have  made  such  a  practice  of 
opening  and  taking  out  stores  for  their  own  use,  that  the  stores  are  generally- 
plundered  in  such  a  manner  before  they  get  to  camp  that  there  are  little  or 
none  left ;  and  if  we  cannot  check  this  practice,  it  is  impossible  for  this  army 
to  be  properly  supplied. 

"  We  are  now  obliged  to  collect  our  own  provisions,  and  were  it  not  that 
we  have  some  of  the  militia  of  the  country  to  assist  us,  we  should  be  scattered 
over  the  face  of  the  earth,  little  less  remote  from  each  other  than  the  inhabit 
ants  themselves.  Our  situation  is  distressing,  and  we  must  be  ruined  if  the 
enemy  push  us,  which  we  have  great  reason  to  expect,  as  Lord  Cornwallis  has 
been  in  motion  some  days  past." 

To  General  Varnum,  then  a  member  of  congress,  a  very  early  acquaintance 
and  associate  in  arms,  and  who  always  stood  high  in  his  affection  and  confi 
dence,  he  writes  thus:  "By  a  letter  from  General  Washington  which  came  to 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE:  397 

hand  a  few  days  since,  I  am  informed  of  your  being  on  your  way  to  congress,  CIUP. 
which  I  am  happy  to  hear  of.     You  have  the  feelings  of  a  soldier,  and 
the  wants  of  an  army.     But  you  have  never  been  in  a  southern  army,  where 
distress  and  difficulties  beset  you  on  every  side.     This  department  affords  a 
checkered  scene.    Sometimes  one  party  is  successful,  and  sometimes  the  other. 
General  Morgan  gained  a  complete  victory  over  Colonel  Tarleton.     The  par 
ticulars  are  forwarded  to  congress ;  for  them  I  refer  you  to  Major  Giles,  an  old 
acquaintance,  who  will  have  the  honour  to  deliver  you  this,"  &c. 

"  This  army  is  in  a  deplorable  condition,  and  notwithstanding  this  little 
success  must  inevitably  fall  a  prey  to  the  enemy  if  not  better  supported  than  I 
can  see  a  prospect  of.  Don't  imagine  that  Lord  Cornwallis  is  ruined ;  for 
depend  upon  it  the  southern  states  must  fall,  unless  there  is  established  a  well- 
appointed  army  for  their  support  of  about  5  or  6000  infantry,  and  800  or  1000 
horse,  and  these  to  be  well  equipped  for  active  operations.  Such  a  force, 
assisted  by  the  auxiliary  aid  of  the  militia,  would  prove  superior  to  any  force 
the  enemy  could  maintain  in  the  field  in  this  quarter. 

"  There  is  a  great  spirit  of  enterprise  prevailing  among  the  militia  of  these 
southern  states,  especially  with  the  volunteers.  But  their  mode  of  going  to 
war  is  so  destructive,  that  it  is  the  greatest  folly  in  the  world  to  trust  the  liber 
ties  of  a  people  to  such  a  precarious  defence. 

"  In  this  command  I  am  obliged  to  put  every  thing  to  the  hazard,  and,  con 
trary  to  all  military  propriety,  am  obliged  to  make  detachments  that  nothing 
but  absolute  necessity  could  authorize,  or  even  justify.  If  they  are  successful 
it  is  well,  if  not  I  am  ruined.  There  is  no  alternative — I  must  commit  myself 
to  fortune  and  trust  myself  to  my  friends  for  support.  It  is  my  only  wish  to  be 
upon  an  equal  footing  with  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  if  I  did  not  give  a  good 
account  of  him,  I  would  agree  to  be  subject  to  censure,"  Sec. 

To  the  commander  in  chief  also,  General  Greene  had  written,  announcing 
the  victory  of  the  Cowpcns  and  expressing  his  deep  chagrin  at  not  being  able 
to  avail  himself  of  all  the  advantages  which  ought  to  be  drawn  from  that  event. 
To  this  General  Washington  replies :  "  I  wish  I  had  it  in  my  power  to  con 
gratulate  you  on  the  brilliant  and  important  victory  of  General  Morgan  with 
out  the  alloy  which  the  distresses  of  the  department  you  command,  and  ap 
prehensions  of  posterior  events  intermix.  Amidst  the  complicated  dangers 
with  which  you  are  surrounded  a  confidence  in  your  abilities  is  my  only  con 
solation.  1  am  convinced  you  will  do  every  thing  that  is  practicable.  I 
lament  that  you  will  find  it  so  difficult  to  avoid  a  general  action ;  for  our  mis 
fortunes  can  only  be  completed  by  the  fjispcrsion  of  your  little  army,  which 
will  be  the  most  probable  consequence  of  such  au  event" 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CRAP.  The  apprehensions  which  these  letters  express  were  not  a  little  increased 
*-y^/  about  this  time,  by-  intelligence  that  a  British  fleet  had  made  its  appearance  off 
die  Cape  Fear  river.  A  reinforcement  landed  at  that  place  and  rapidly  pushed 
up  the  river,  through  the  numerous  settlements  of  loyalists  who  inhabited  its 
banks,  would  have  produced  no  small  ebarrassment  to  the  American,  com 
mander,  and  possibly  must  have  occasioned  a  diversion  of  his  forces  from 
direct  operation  against  the  grand  army.  Wilmington  lay  directly  in  the  rear 
of  the  American  position,  and  communicated  by  a  navigable  river  with  Cross 
Creek,  now  Fayetteville,  where  stores  had  been  collected,  a  manufactory  of 
shoes  established,  and  the  salting  of  provisions  going  on  for  the  relief  of  the 
American  troops. 

.  Lord  Cornwallis  had  foreseen  all  this,  and  knew  also  that  great  advantages 
might  be  derived  from  establishing  a  post  at  Wilmington,  as  well  in  giving 
countenance  to  the  loyalists,  as  in  furnishing  a  magazine  or  depot  preparatory 
to  his  operations  both  in  North  Carolina  and  Virginia.  Previous,  therefore,  to 
opening  the  campaign,  he  had  detached  Major  Craig  to  seize  upon  and  fortify 
that  place.  Craig  found  the  p' ace  in  a  defenceless  state;  it  had  generally, 
during  the  war  been  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  was  now  taken  possession 
of  with  little  or  no  opposition.  From  some  intelligence  previously  communi 
cated,  General  Greene  was  apprehensive  that  it  was  Arnold  from  Virginia; 
but  bis  fears  subsided  when  he  learned  that  the  troops  landed  were  only  suffi 
cient  for  a  garrison,  and  he  did  not  despair  of  seizing  an  opportunity  to  pos 
sess  himself  of  it  by  a  coup  de  mahij  and  converting  to  his  own  relief  the  maga 
zines  that  had  been  provided  to  aid  the  operations  of  his  enemy. 
At  present  the  relief  of  Morgan  claimed  his  undivided  attention. 
Tt  happened  at  this  time  when  his  necessities  were  most  pressing,  that  the 
time  of  service  of  the  Virginia  militia  brigade  was  near  expiring.  It  was 
commanded  by  General  Stevens,  who,  from  a  colonel  in  the  regular  service, 
had  been  promoted  to  the  command  of  a  brigade  in  the  militia.  According  to 
an  established  rule,  which  was  necessarily  adhered  to,  or  the  militia  would 
have  come  116  more  into  the  field,  it  was  necessary  to  march  off  this  regiment 
in  time  to  arrive  at  their  place  of  rendezvous,  to  be  there  discharged  v\  hen 
their  tour  of  duty  expired.  Greene  availed  himself  of  this  opportunity,  of  per 
forming  a  pressing  service,  without  thinning  his  ranks  by  sending  off  a  consi 
derable  detachment.  Stevens  was  an  excellent  officer.  Greene  knew  Ins 
value,  and  hurried  him  away  with  his  command,  ordering  him  to  take  charge 
of  the  prisoners  then  in  the  depot  at  Hillsborough,  to  hasten  them  on  so  as  to 
intersect  the  line  of  march  of  those  Decently  taken  by  Morgan,  and  make  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  $99 

best  of  his  way  to  the  interior  counties  of  Virginia,  where,  the  whole  would  be  CHAP. 
secure  and  remote  from  the  danger  of  recapture.  v-r-x^*/ 

These  orders  were  ably  executed,  and  Stevens  never  rested  after  performing 
this  service,  but  hurried  back  to  take  part  in  the  active  scenes  that  he  antici 
pated,  and  rejoined  his  general  in  time  to  perform  the  most  brilliant  services  at 
Guilford.  It  is  perhaps  due  both  to  the  penetration  of  Greene  and  the  merits 
of  Stevens  to  mention,  that  in  the  letter  addressed  to  the.  governor  of  Virginia 
pressing  him  to  order  out  a  reinforcement  of  militia,  Greene  solicits  particu 
larly  that  it  should  be  placed  under  the  command  of  Stevens.  His  subsequent 
conduct  proved  that  he  merited  the  high  opinion  that  his  commander  had 
formed  and  expressed  of  him. 

The  state  of  things  in  Virginia  at  this  time,  left  no  doubt  on  the  mind  of 
General  Greene  as  to  the  course  Lord  Cornwallis  would  pursue.  In  the  last 
of  December  the  celebrated  Arnold  entered  the  Chesapeake,  and  ascending 
the  James  River  on  the  4th  January,  debarked  about  700  men  on  tLe  north 
side  of  that  river  about  25  miles  below  Richmond. 

The  account  of  his  subsequent  proceedings,  will  be  extracted  from  Baron 
Steuben's  official  letter  of  the  8th  of  that  month. 

**  The  4th  in  the  morning  we  received  intelligence  that  the  enemy's  fleet  lay 
off  Westover,  and  were  preparing  to  disembark.  It  was  then  evident  their 
object  was  Richmond,  and  orders  were  immediately  given  for  the  removal  of 
the  public  stores.  As  the  enemy  had  25  miles  to  march  before  they  reached 
the  town,  I  was  in  hopes  a  force  would  collect  sufficient  at  least  to  check  their 
progress;  but  to  my  surprise,  about  100  men  were  all  that  could  be  assembled. 
These  I  sent  down  under  the  command  of  a  Major  Dick,  a  state  officer  to 
whom  I  gave  orders  to  harass  the  enemy  by  firing  at  them  from  every  favour 
able  piece  of  ground.  These  orders  were,  however,  ill  executed.  The  enemy 
.moved  that  evening  to  Four  Mile  Creek,  where  they  encamped  about  eleven 
o'plock.  . 

"  What  few  continental  stores  were  in  town  I  sent  out  to  Westham.  having 

'  C 

before  ordered  Major  Clairborne  up  the  river  to  collect  boats  there  to  transport 
them  across.  I  also  ordered  the  150  continental  troops  to  march  from  Peters 
burg  and  take  a  position  opposite  to  Westham;  and,  Colonel  Davie  having 
sent  all  the  stores  and  hospital  from  Chesterfield,  was  ordered  to  the  same 
place  with  the  remainder  of  "his  naked  troops.  The  state  stores,  of  which 
great  quantities  were  in  town,  were  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Minter,  by 
whose  inactivity  and  downright  negligence  they  were  lost.  Of  their  artillery 
I  saved  myself  five  pieces  which  were  mounted.  The  rest,  consisting  of  three 
brass  and  a  great  many  iron  pieces,  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands. 


400  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  «« Not  a  single  man  except  those  I  sent  out  presenting  himself  to  oppose  the 
w^v^w/ approach  of  the  enemy,  I  thought  it  prudent  to  cross  the  river  in  the  evening, 
and  took  my  quarters  in  Manchester,  and  next  day  about  12  o'clock  the  enemy 
took  possession  of  the  tow-i,  having  marched  about  twenty-five  miles  with  850 
men  and  30  horse,  without  receiving  a  single  shot.  They  left  half  their  force 
in  the  town  and  proceeded  immediately  with  the  rest  to  Westham,  where  they 
burnt  all  the  public  buildings,  consisting  of  a  foundry,  with  a  boring-mill,  pow 
der  magazine,  and  some  small  shins,  and  returned  to  Richmond  the  same 
evening.  The  continental  stores  had  been  all  sent  across  the  river,  and  some 
state  stores;  what  part  was  left  I  have  not  yet  learnt.  About  800  militia  had 
arrived  at  Westham  on  their  way  down,  and  arms  were  actually  rccrossing  for 
•  them,  but  hearing  of  the  enemy's  approach  and  being  unarmed,  they  dis 
persed,"  &c.  "  In  fact,"  the  narrative  concludes,  "  the  enemy  returned  as 
they  went,  without  receiving  a  single  shot,  and  have  lain  quietly  at  Westovcr 
in  a  scattered  manner  all  this  day,"  (the  8th.) 

In  tranquillity,  Arnold  shipped  his  plunder;  and  exulting  in  his  triumph  over 
that  pride  which  he  had  contributed  to  elevate,  he  descended  die  river  and 
took  possession  once  more  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth, 

It  may  appear  astonishing  that  such  an  enterprise,  with  such  a  handful  of 
men  should  have  so  effectually  succeeded;  but  it  is  a  fate  which  a  recent  event 
has  proved,  all  those  places  communicating  with  the  Chesapeake  must  be  ex 
posed  to,  from  an  enemy  who  can  lie  in  security  with  his  shipping,  in  that  bay. 
AVhile  an  enemy  can  move  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  a  force  equal  to  his  own 
must  be  held  in  readiness  to  meet  him  at  every  assailable  point  at  the  same 
time.  The  expense  of  this  and  of  the  preparation  necessary  to  give  certainty 
to  resistance,  is  too  great  to  be  incurred. 

No  preparation  for  defence  had  been  made  in  this  instance,  except  a  small 
fort  on  the  river,  which  the  enemy  soon  carried  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet., 
Yet  the  most  immediate  resort  was  had  to  the  defence  on  which  the  public  mind 
haJ  rested  in  security,  to  wit,  the  militia.  On  the  first  intelligence  of  the  ap 
pearance  of  the  fleet,  Stcuben  had  demanded  4,000  militia,  and  Governor  Jef 
ferson  had  promptly  issued  the  order  for  their  assembling.  But  it  was  not  until 
the  enemy  had  retired,  that  they  could  be  brought  together  in  any  force;  and  a 
panic,  the  general  forerunner  of  an  approaching  enemy,  will  probably  always 
produce  the  same  effect,  among  men,  whose  families  and  property  lie  scattered 
along  the  line  of  the  enemy's  advance. 

Steubcn  flew  to  his  depot  of  recruits  at  Chesterfield,  and  there  were  in  it 
at  that  time  GOO  vigorous  young  men,  who  might  alone  have  covered  Rich 
mond,  could  they  have  been  brought  into  the  field.  Rut  of  the  whole,  there 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  401 

were  only  150  who  had  clothes  on  their  backs,*  and  these  were  so  badly  clad, 
that  he  had  to  hasten  ^hcm  back  to  shelter,  the  moment  the  enemy  had  shrunk 
from  his  design  of  crossing  over  to  Manchester.  With  these  Steubrn,  had  first 
taken  post  at  Petersburg;  and  it  appears  that  a  show  of  resistance  at  that  place 
and  Manchester,  saved  a  vast  property  in  shipping  and  tobacco  for  the  time; 
hut  it  was  only  saved  until  another  and  more  formidable  enemy  appeared. 
This  was  General  Philips,  at  this  time  preparing  to  embark  from  New  York. 

Whether  Richmond,  nay  the  credit  of  the  state  might  not  have  been  saved 
by  the  rising  of  the  militia  en  masse,  we  are  unable  to  determine.  The  popu 
lation  of  Richmond,  Manchester,  and  Petersburg,  all  within  a  scope  of  twenty- 
five  miles,  the  same  distance  that  Arnold  had  to  march  after  landing,  added  to 
Stcuben's  little  force,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  adjacent  country,  ought  to  have 
greatly  outnumbered  the  enemy .f  But  unfortunately  upon  such  occurrences, 
the  tendency  of  every  man's  mind  is  first  to  look  to  individual  interests,  and 
before  he  turns  his  attention  to  the  public  defence,  the  evil  is  consummated. 
The  governments  of  the  states  had  not  at  that  time,  and  perhaps  never  will 
have  sufficient  militia  organization,  to  counteract  the  certain  efiects  of  this 
individual  influence  upon  the  militia  of  a  state  on  sudden  emergencies. 

When  intelligence  reached  the  southern  commander,  that  Arnold  had  seated 
himself  down  in  Portsmouth  and  was  fortifying  it,  that  a  formidable  embarka 
tion  of  troops  under  General  Philips  was  in  forwardness  at  New  York,  and 
that  Morgan  was  retreating  before  Lord  Cormvallis,  he  no  longer  doubted  of 
the  course  to  be  pursued,  and  the  army  got  in  motion  on  the  29th  of  January, 
with  orders  to  ascend  the  banks  of  the  Pee  Dee,  and  crossing  at  Mask's  Ferry 
above  the  mouth  of  Little  River,  to  move  up  with  all  possible  expedition  to 
Salisbury. 

On  this  occasion  the  army  was  thrown  into  two  brigades,  the  Virginia  troops 
composing  one  under  command  of  General  Huger,  the  Maryland  and  Dela 
ware  troops  the  other,  under  Colonel  Williams;  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Mor- 


*  (Baron  Steuben,  15th  Dec.  17SO.  Extract.)  "  The  business  now  before  me  is  to  get  clotlios 
lor  those  wretches  now  at  Chesterfield  Court-House;  they  amount  to  between  5  and  600,  but  they 
are  so  totally  naked  that  except  I  can  get  some  clothes  for  them,  they  will  be  all  sick  before  they  can 
be  ordered  to  march  which  (from  the  great  difficulty  of  procuring  clothing  of  every  sort)  I  fear  will 
not  be  sooner  than  four  weeks.  But  as  I  wish,  so  ray  whole  powers  shall  be  exerted  to  support  you, 
and  I  shall  not  think  any  pains  too  great  to  get  400  men  on  their  way  to  camp/'  • 

t  Mr.  Jefferson  states  the  numbers  between  the  James  and  York  rivers  on  one  side,  and  the  James 
river  and  Carolina  line  on  the  other  upon  the  tide  waters,  at  near  10,000  fighting  men,  and  the  whole 
n\ilitia  of  the  state  at  49/J71  • 

51 


402  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  ris,  of  the  general's  family,  was  ordered  to  attend  them  on  their  inarch,  and  in 
•v^^-^/the  absence  of  the  commander,  to  discharge  the  various  incidental  cjuties  that 
might  have  required  his  attention.  From  Mask's  Ferry,  it  will  be  seen,  the 
army  afterwards  moved  on  by  forced  marches  until  it  formed  a  junction  with 
Morgan  at  Guilford, — a  change  of  direction  given  it  by  subsequent  events;  and 
seldom  have  officers  or  men  better  deserved  the  gratitude  of  their  country  than 
those  who  had  to  undergo  this  laborious  and  distressing  journey.  At  the  time  of 
its  commencement  there  existed  too  many  of  those  little  jealousies  and  questions 
of  rank  which  too  often  disturb  the  harmony  of  an  army  drawn  together  and 
composed  as  this  was.  These  the  officers  were  solemnly  called  upon  to  dis 
miss  for  the  present,  and  cordially  to  combine  their  efforts  in  the  arduous  ser 
vice  on  which  they  were  about  to  enter.  The  request  was  promptly  complied 
with,  and  the  constraint  thus  imposed  upon  the  feelings  of  many,  terminated 
in  explanations  and  cordial  reconciliation.  Such  sacrifices  are  easily  obtained 
from  officers  of  merit  in  the  state  of  predisposition  which  the  general  had  been 
sedulous  in  promoting  at  their  camp  of  repose. 

Nor  were  the  effects  resulting  from  the  excellent  temper  of  the  men  less 
conspicuous.  General  Greene  had  always  set  a  high  estimate  on  possessing 
the  affections  of  his  men ;  he  knew  the  full  value  of  gratitude,  in  quickening 
obedience,  and  esteemed  the  homage  of  the  heart  the  best  security  againsl 
treachery.  Cold  looks  and  reluctant  services  from  dependants,  are  very  un- 
confenial  with  the  claims  of  a  benevolent  mind.  Greene  never  failed  to  pur 
chase  a  greeting  smile  from  his  humblest  dependant  at  the  easy  rate  of  civil 
demeanour,  or  a  kind  and  encouraging  word.  Small  indeed  are  the  demands 
of  the  common  soldier  on  the  benevolence  of  one  high  in  command;  trifling 
is  the  sacrifice  at  which  he  is  able  to  purchase  the  willing  services  which  flow 
from  personal  affection.  A  very  striking  proof  of  the  success  with  which  the 
general  had  conciliated  the  affections,  and  acquired  the  confidence  of  his 
troops  was  exhibited  on  this  march.  Severe  as  the  weather  was,  in  the  very 
depth  of  winter,  half  naked,  and  marking  their  steps  with  the  blood  that  flowed 
from  their  bare  feet,  often  pinched  with  hunger,  never  regularly  supplied  with 
food,  without  tents,  many  destitute  of  blankets,  journeying  on  days  when 
every  living  creature  else  was  driven  to  some  place  of  shelter,  drenched  with 
perpetual  rains,  often  wading  waist  deep  through  rapid  streams,  with  no  means 
but  exercise  of  restoring  warmth  to  their  benumbed  limbs,  and  not  the  ordi 
nary  solace  of  a  glass  of  spirits,  in  a  march  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  not 
one  Jnan  deserted.  This  instance  of  patient  suffering  and  invincible  fidelity, 
should  be  engraven  on  the  heart  of  every  American. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREEN7E.  403 

Whatever  danger  might  otherwise  have  attended  the  journey  of  General  CHAP. 
Greene  across  the  country,  it  was  greatly  diminished  by  the  celerity  of  his  s^^^/ 
movements.  He  must  have  travelled  from  Hick's  Creek  on  the  Pee  Dee,  to 
Beattie's  Ford  on  the  Catawba,  in  two  days,  for  we  have  his  letters  of  the  27th 
dated  camp  at  Pec  Dee,  and  many  of  the  30th  written  from  the  camp  at  Shc- 
rard's  Ford  on  the  Catawba,  all  in  his  own  handwriting.  The  hiatus  is  only 
of  the  28th  and  29th,  during  which  he  was  upon  the  journey.  But  it  has  been 
remarked  of  him  by  one  of  his  aids,  that  he  never  appeared  to  suffer  in  body 
or  spirits  under  the  effects  of  fatigue.  We  have  set  down  the  length  of  this 
journey  a4;  one  hundred  miles.  Ramsay  says  one  hundred  and  fifty;  it  may 
be  stated  with  correctness  at  one  hundred  and  twenty-five. 

When  General  Greene  arrived  at  Morgan's  camp,  he  found  the  state  of 
things  materially  changed  and  essentially  improved  from  what  he  had  reason 
to  apprehend  from  his  last  intelligence.  A  letter  to  General  Huger,  written  on 
the  30th  from  Sherald's  Ford,  will  present  an  authentic  account  of  the  relative 
position  of  the  two  armies  and  of  the  measures  adopted  to  meet  the  supposed 
exigencies  of  the  service. 

"  I  have  just  arrived  at  this  place,  where  General  Morgan  is  posted  with  his 
light  troops.  The  enemy  lie  on  the  other  side  of  the  Catawba  about  18  miles 
below  this.  All  the  fords  between  this  and  Charlotte  are  occupied  by  the 
militia  under  General  Davidson.  The  enemy  appear  determined  to  cross,  and 
from  different  accounts  have  in  contemplation  visiting  Salisbury.  If  they 
cross  and  push  that  way,  they  must  have  in  view  a  plan  of  co-operation  with 
Arnold  at  Cape  Fear.  To  disconcert  them,  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  form 
a  junction  before  them,  and  give  one  or  the  other  of  them  a  defeat  if  practi 
cable.  The  militia  are  arming  in  great  numbers  to  appearance,  but  there  is  no 
possibility  of  telling  our  force;  and  at  any  rate  I  wish  to  avoid  an  action  until 
our  force  is  collected.  I  beg  you  to  hasten  your  march  towards  Salisbury  as 
fast  as  possible.  If  the  stores  have  arrived,  issue  whatever  may  be  necessary 
to  put  the  troops  in  good  order  for  action.  Let  the  rest  of  the  stores  be  sent 
up  to  Guilford  Court-House,  under  the  care  of  Major  Magaret,  with  a  light 
guard  composed  of  troops  unfit  for  other  duty  All  the  artillery  except  the  four 
six-pounders,  may  go  with  him,  but  let  those  that  are  retained  be  well  manned. 
The  heavy  baggage  of  the  army  may  move  up  the  east  side  of  the  river  to  the 
fords  at  Salisbury,  and  there  wait  further  orders.  Give  General  Lillingtou 
orders  to  join  you,  leaving  a  proper  guard  at  the  mouth  of  Rocky  River  to 
guard  the  provision  and  stores  at  that  place,  and  to  relieve  all  our  parties  at 
the  mills.  These  may  be  unarmed  men,  if  he  has  a  sufficient  number  for  the 
purpose:  if  not,  he  must  detach  those  that  are  armed.  Should  Arnold  land  at 


404.  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Cape  Fear,  or  Lord  Cormvallis  pass  the  Catawba  and  push  for  Rocky  River. 
x^-v-^y  all  the  live  stock  at  that  place  must  be  driven  off,  all  the  spare  waggons  loaded 
with  meal  to  follow  the  army,  and  drive  all  the  cattle  with  you  that  are  col 
lected.  Give  orders  also  that  the  waggons  that  move  off  with  the  stores  take 
as  much  corn  with  them  as  will  subsist  the  horses  through  the  barrens.  If  the 
musket  cartridges  have  come  up,  take  on  40  or  50,000  and  let  the  rest  go  on 
with  the  stores.  Should  Arnold  come  into  Cape  Fear,  give  the  commissary 
orders  to  move  all  the  provisions  and  stores  from  Cross  Creek,  and  such  other 
places  as  may  be  exposed.  Bring  forward  with  you  all  the  rum  and  stores  that 
may  have  arrived.  All  the  broken  down  horses  belonging  either  to  the  quar 
ter-master-general's  department  or  the  cavalry,  may  continue  on  the  Pee  Dee 
until  further  orders,  unless  the  movements  of  the  enemy  below,  should  be  such 
as  to  expose  them.  In  this  case,  let  them  be  moved  to  Guilford.  Keep  your 
commissaries  and  forage-masters  ahead  of  the  army,  to  make  all  the  collections 
you  can  to  assist  the  stock  you  bring  from  the  Pee  Dee.  Let  as  many  of  the 
boats  follow  the  army  as  are  complete,  and  you  will  also  bring  the  tents  of  the 
army  with  you  if  the  means  of  transportation  w  ill  admit  of  it. 

"  It  is  necessary  we  should  take  every  possible  precaution  to  guard  against  a 
misfortune.  But  I  am  not  without  hopes  of  mining  Lord  Cornwallis,  if  he  per 
sists  in  his  mad  scheme  of  pushing  through  the  country.  And  it  is  my  earnest 
desire  to  form  a  junction  as  early  as  possible  for  this  purpose.  Desire  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Lee  to  force  a  march  to  join  us.  Here  is  a  fine  field  and  great 
glory  ahead. 

"  If  the  companies  of  artificers  are  come  up,  detach  a  few  to  go  with  the 
Stores  and  a  few  with  the  baggage,  and  bring  the  rest  on  with  you,  and  desire 
Colonel  Kosciusko  to  join  me  at  this  place  as  soon  as  he  can. 

"  If  General  Marion  cannot  cross  the  Santee,  give  him  orders  to  move  up 
towards  Camden  upon  Lynch's  Creek,  that  he  may  be  at  hand  to  co-operate 
with  us  if  necessary,"  &c. 

This  letter  is  given  as  a  specimen  of  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  mind 
that  dictated  it,  and  die  habit  of  the  writer  of  leaving  nothing,  not  even  die 
minutest  measure,  unattended  to.  It  is  obvious  that  it  was  written  whilst 
under  the  impression  that  Arnold  had  sailed  from  the  Chesapeake  with  a  view 
to  land  at  Wilmington  and  co-operate  with  Lord  Cormvallis.  The  efficiency 
of  such  a  measure  made  him  readily  credit  it,  for  he  always  reasoned  on  the 
.principle  that  an  enemy  would  do  what  he  had  best  do.  But  when  the  true 
state  of  the  force  landed  at  Wilmington  was  ascertained,  he  no  longer  appre 
hended  that  Lord  Cornwallis  would  direct  his  march  to  Rocky  River,  and 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  40$ 

returned  to  the  original  opinion  that  his  views  were  directed  against  Virginia.  CHAP. 
Measures  were  then  varied  accordingly.  <*rv~*s 

General  Greene's  journey  to  Sherald's  Ford  had  been  hastened  by  a  hurried 
scrawl  received  from  Morgan,  dated  at  that  place  on  the  25th  of  January. 
This  letter,  though  brief,  is  an  important  historical  document,  inasmuch  as  it 
expunges  from  historical  truth  all  those  miracles  and  brawls  with  which  histo 
rians  adorn  Morgan's  retreat  from  the  Covvpens  to  Guilford.  But  it  is  still 
more  important,  as  it  removes  a  shade  from  his  reputation  under  which  it  has 
|>een  somewhat  obscured. 

*  •*  J  receive,"  says  the  writer,  "  intelligence  every  hour  of  die  enemy's  rapid 
approach,  in  consequence  of  which  I  am  sending  off  my  waggons.  My  num 
bers  at  this  time  are  too  weak  to  fight  them.  I  intend  to  move  towards  Salis 
bury,  in  order  to  get  near  the  main  army.  I  know  they  intend  to  bring  me  to 
an  action,  which  I  am  resolved  carefully  to  avoid. 

"  I  expect  you  will  move  somewhere  on  the  Yadkin  to  oppose  their  crossing. 
I  think  it  would  be  advisable  to  join  our  forces  and  fight  them  before  they 
join  Philips;  which  they  certainly  will  do  if  they  are  not  stopped.  I  have 
ordered  the  commanding  officer  at  Salisbury  to  move  off  with  the  prisoners 
and  stores.  If  you  think  it  right,  you  will  repeat  it  I  cannot  ascertain  their 
number,  but  suppose  them  odds  of  two  thousand.  That  number,  if  they  keep 
in  a  compact  body,  which  I  make  no  doubt  they  will,  we  cannot  hurt.  I  have 
sent  to  General  Davidson  to  join  me,  which  I  expect  he  will  do  to-morrow: 
his  strength  I  do  not  know,  as  his  men  were  collecting  yesterday." 

In  another  letter  written  at  sunrise  the  same  day,  he  mentions  that  Lord 
Cornwallis  had  arrived  at  Ramsour's  Mills,  and  the  two  taken  together,  for 
ever  put  down  the  miracle  of  the  29th,  so  gravely  insisted  on  by  every  histo 
rian,  from  Ramsay  to  the  humblest  copyist  It  is  not  a  little  surprising  that 
Colonel  Lee  should  have  dwelt  upon  the  same  incident  with  such  peculiar 
stress.  His  opportunities  of  ascertaining  dates  and  events  render,  what  wras 
pardonable  in  others,  in  him  a  striking  specimen  of  inaccuracy.  It  is  unques 
tionable  that  Morgan  crossed  the  Catawba  on  the  24th,  and  Lord  Cornwallis' 
van  reached  Ramsour's  Mills  the  same  evening.  On  the  25th,  Morgan  sent 
off  his  baggage  and  prisoners,  and  receiving  intelligence  that  evening,  that 
Lord  Cornwallis  had  halted  and  made  no  dispositions  for  immediately  pro 
ceeding,  he  rested  in  tranquillity  on  the  banks  of  the  Catawba,  watching  the 
movements  of  his  adversary,  and  waiting  the  further  developement  of  his 
views;  whilst  his  own  presence  countenanced  the  collection  of  the  militia, 
whom  he  prepared  to  lead  to  the  banks  of  the  Yadkin,  where  he  hoped  to  be 
to  turn  upon  his  pursuers,  Thu>  this  celebrated  miracle  of  modern  times 


_• 
40G  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  vanishes  at  the  touch  of  truth,  and  we  are  left  to  the  more  rational  duty  of 
v^Nr^,  adoring  that  providence  which  gave  wisdom  and  vigour  to  the  councils  of  our 
leaders,  or  confounded  those  of  their  adversary.  The  subsequent  miraculous 
rise  of  the  Yadkin  will  also  be  found  to  have  had  no  more  foundation  hi  real 
ity.  That  it  should  have  rained  on  the  27th  and  28th  of  the  month,  and  that 
the  great  rivers  should  have  thereby  become  swollen,  has  nothing  miraculous 
in  it ;  it  was  the  season  when  these  occurrences  are  looked  for  in  every  year ; 
and  should  it  be  urged,  that  still  the  delays  which  followed  die  29th,  were  all- 
important  to  the  advance  of  the  main  army  to  form  a  junction  with  that  under 
Morgan,  and  the  security  of  the  prisoners;  while  we  disavow  a  wish  to  check* 
the  grateful  emotions,  which  this  and  a  thousand  other  events  of  the  revolution 
are  calculated  to  excite,  it  must  be  observed,  that  the  same  rains  which  checked 
the  progress  of  one  army  also  checked  the  advance  of  the  other.  The  miracle 
that, saved  the  American  army  in  this  instance,  was,  that  Cornwallis  should  have 
halted  his  whole  army  two  days  at  Ramsour's  Mills  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
his  baggage.  Morgan  and  his  prisoners  were  then  still  in  his  power — the  river 
continued  passable  for  four  days,  on  any  one  of  wrhich  he  could  have  pushed 
forward  his  cavalry,  and  a  sufficient  body  of  mounted  infantry,  to  have  de 
stroyed  the  one  and  recaptured  the  other.  The  distance  was  not  twenty  miles, 
the  crossing  places  numerous,  and  the  opposition  to  be  expected  trifling;  for 
at  that  time  the  militia  were  not  yet  embodied.  And  a  greater  miracle  perhaps, 
and  one  more  powerfully  operating  in  favour  of  the  American  army  was,  this 
celebrated  sacrifice  of  Cornvvallis  in  destroying  his  baggage.  It  would  not  be 
difficult  to  demonstrate,  that  it  had  then  been  too  long  deferred  to  be  beneficial, 
was  wholly  unnecessary  to  the  end  proposed,  and  finally  produced  his  com 
plete  discomfiture. 

Colonel  Lee  has  spoken  of  this  event  in  a  style  of  animation,  which  can 
only  be  reconciled  with  his  military  knowledge  and  experience,  by  adverting 
to  the  error  which  he  and  various  others  have  fallen  into,  of  supposing  that  the 
sacrifice  was  promptly  made  by  the  British  general  upon  the  news  of  Tarle- 
ton's  defeat,  and  made  before  the  commencement  of  the  pursuit  of  the  Ameri 
can  detachment.  But  it  has  been  shown,  that  it  was  not  resolved  on  until  he 
had  first  lost  one  irretrievable  day,  and  w  asted  seven  others  in  making  good  a 
journey  of  a  few  miles.  It  was  not,  until  the  British  commander  reached  the 
banks  of  die  Little  Catawba,  and  saw  his  adversary  still  twenty  miles  in  ad 
vance,  his  rear  covered  by  a  rapid  stream,  and  his  prisoners  and  baggage 
pushed  forward  towards  the  interior  of  Virginia,  that  all  the  dangers  which 
threatened  his  military  fame  broke  upon  his  lordship's  views.  He  had  boasted 
to  the  British  ministrv  that  he  had  subdued  two  provinces,  that  the  third 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  407 

but  the  high  road  to  Virginia,  where  a  junction  with  Philips,  it  was  fondly  CHAP. 
hoped,  would  not  only  insure  to  him  the  conquest  of  that  state,  but  open  a  ^^^^^ 
passage,  even  to  Philadelphia.  But  now,  the  shame  of  having  an  entire  de 
tachment  of  his  army  captured,  in  sight  as  it  were  of  his  head  quarters,  and 
conducted  triumphantly  for  fifty  miles  on  a  circle,  the  radius  of  which  at  no 
lime  exceeded  twenty-five  miles,  making  his  main  army  the  centre  ;  his  hopes 
of  recapture  now  nearly  desperate,  and  the  shame  of  an  empty  boaster  await 
ing  him ;  the  destruction  of  his  baggage  bears  more  the  appearance  of  the 
result  of  desperation,  than  of  cool  and  dispassionate  reflection.  Nothing  but 
complete  success  could  obviate  the  dangerous  consequences  of  the  measure ; 
and  the  commander  who  stakes  all  upon  one  throw  when  he  has  still  many 
chances  in  his  favour,  may  claim  the  meed  of  intrepidity,  but  nothing  further. 
When  Greene  received  the  intelligence  of  this  event  on  his  arrival  at  Morgan's 
camp,  it  is  said,  that  with  an  air  and  manner  which  marked  the  energy  of  his 
feelings,  he  exclaimed,  "  Then  he  is  ours."  And  the  everit  proved  him  right. 
In  the  smoking  heap  of  hundreds  of  waggons,  of  tents,  baggage,  clothing 
equipage  to  an  immense  amount,  Lord  Cormvallis  may  have  contemplated 
the  funeral  pile  of  all  his  hopes.  His  watchful  adversary  saw  that  it  portended 
his  ruin,  and  every  movement  of  the  American  army  from  that  period  must  • 
be  explained  with  a  reference  to  this  occurrence.  To  delay,  and  detain  his 
now  enraged  adversary,  was  the  leading  motive  of  the  American  commander, 
until  wrought  up  to  phrenzy  he  should  commit  some  act  of  desperate  impru 
dence.  Such  an  event  was  obviously  probable,  could  he  tantalize  him  with 
the  near  prospect  of  a  battle,  still  carefully  eluding,  and  for  ever  harassing  him. 
With  this  view  the  march  of  the  main  army  was  immediately  changed ;  it  had 
been  intended  to  meet  and  check  the  enemy  on  the  banks  of  the  Yadkin,  but 
it  now  became  important  to  tempt  him  higher  into  the  country,  to  prolong  his 
pursuit,  to  draw  him  into  a  country  favourable  to  the  proposed  operation,  and 
which  at  the  same  time  facilitated  a  junction  with  Greene's  advancing  rein 
forcements,  whilst  it  furnished  provisions  for  subsisting  the  array.  In  the 
-mean  time,  it  was  reasonable  to  expect,  that  the  troops  of  his  adversary,  dis 
pirited  by  disappointment,  worn  down  by  fatigue,  disgusted  with  the  severity 
of  a  winter  campaign,  vexed  at  being  so  long  subjected  to  the  severest  priva 
tions,  would  be  diminished  by  desertion.  The  event  realized  every  calculation. 
Colonel  Lee  has  been  so  rapt  with  admiration  of  the  British  soldiers  on  this 
occasion  as  to  have  broken  out  with  this  apostrophe,  "  A  memorable  instance 
among  manj  others  in  this  unnatural  war  of  the  immutable  disposition  of  the 
British  soldiers  to  endure  every  privation  in  support  of  their  king  and  coun 
try!"  Yet,  had  the  colonel  adverted  to  the  British  returns  of  the  day,  he  would 


408  1VIAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  have  found,  that  during  this  very  period,  without  a  battle,  the  British  forces  in 
less  than  a  month  were  reduced  in  number  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven. 
This  must  either  have  been  by  death  or  desertion,  and  those  who  had  opportu 
nities  of  observing  the  numbers  of  Hessian  and  English  labourers  soon  after 
dispersed  through  the  interior  of  that  country,  were  at  no  loss  to  determine 
who  and  what  they  were.  The  celebrated  guards,  the  boast  of  the  English 
anny,  were  reduced  one  eighth  of  their  number.  Mere  mercenaries  have  few 
of  those  feelings  which  keep  up  the  enthusiasm  of  their  leaders:  with  thorn  it 
may  be  ^strong  for  a  moment,  but  it  is  evanescent  and  soon  yields  to  the  pres 
sure  of  natural  wants  or  acquired  habits.  The  want  of  his  gill  of  rum  was 
more  distinctly  realized  by  the  British  soldier,  than  the  duty  of  supporting 
"  his  king  and  country."  What  privations  had  they  to  complain  of?  They 
were  well  clad,  well  fed,  but  had  to  march  230  miles  between  the  1st  and  the 
15th  of  February.  Before  that  time,  their  progress  had  been  so  far  from  being 
precipitated,  that  between  the  19th  of  January  and  1st  of  February,  they  had 
made  good  not  eighty  miles. 

Another  fact  which  Morgan's  letter  of  the  loth  serves  to  establish  is,  that 
he  has  been  unjustly  charged  with  an  intention  of  crossing  the  mountains. 
This  assertion  which  implies  a  charge  of  being  too  careful  of  his  own  safety, 
and  too  indifferent  to  the  general  interest,  and  the  views  of  his  commander, 
has  not  a  Kttle  affected  the  military  fame  of  Morgan.  It  first  made  its  appear 
ance  in  Dr.  Ramsay's  History  of  the  Revolution  in  South  Carolina,*  and  has 
been  repeated  by  General  Moultrie,f  and  various  other  authors.  It  has  also 
given  rise  to  a  tale  of  an  altercation  or  coolness  that  ensued  between  Greene 
and  Morgan  which  has  been  assigned  as  the  cause  of  Morgan's  retiring  at  that 
time  from  the  arena  of  the  American  revolution.  Nothing  was  less  consistent 
with  the  state  of  facts.J 

The  direction  of  the  movements  of  Morgan  ought  alone  to  have  relieved 
him  from  this  imputation.  For  even  from  the  field  of  battle  the  route  he  took 
led  away  from  the  mountains,  and  as  directly  towards  the  point  where  he  con 
templated  forming  a  junction  with  the  main  army,  as  the  position  of  the  British 
army  would  possibly  admit.  If  any  further  proof  be  wanted,  his  letter  supplies 
it;  and  as  to  any  altercation  with  his  commander,  there  was  not  the  least  occa 
sion  afforded  for  it,  for  Greene  never  did  any  act  on  this  occasion,  that  could 
bear  the  appearance  of  a  wish  to  snatch  from  him  his  merited  laurels;  but  con 
fined  his  own  efforts  to  the  principal  object  which  had  drawn  him  to  the  banks 


*  Vol.  2.  206.  t  Vol.  2.  2GO.  J  Colonel  Lee. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  409 

of  the  Catawba,  to  wit,  to  embody  the  militia,  to  endeavour  to  retard  the  pro-  CHAP. 
gress  of  the  enemy,  and  combine  and  harmonize  the  movements  of  both  divi-  v^^U^, 
sions  of  his  army.  It  has  been  noticed  that  he  had  paid  the  earliest  attention 
to  the  object  of  embodying  a  force  on  die  banks  of  the  Catawba,  foreseeing  the 
probability  that  Morgan  would  stand  in  need  of  it.  One  of  the  causes  of  his 
rapid  transit  from  the  one  army  to  the  other,  was  a  despairing  letter  received 
from  General  Davidson,  expressing  his  apprehensions  that  very  few  of  the 
militia  would  be  prevailed  upon  to  leave  their,  homes.  Everything  at  that 
time  conspired  to  prevent  them.  All  the  hopes  of  the  husbandman  in  that 
country  depend  upon  the  labours  of  this  month;  unless  his  fields  can  be  pre 
pared  for  a  crop  in  February  and  March,  his  family  must  suffer  for  the  neces 
saries  of  life.  Besides  which,  Morgan  was  retreating,  the  enemy  advancing, 
and  both  the  "  vigorous  Tarleton"  and  "  the  amiable  Cornwallis"*  had  given 
ample  specimens  of  their  "  tender  mercies."  The  inhabitants  well  knew  that 
every  house  would  be  in  flames,  and  every  family  left  "  no  canopy  but  the  hea 
vens,"  if  the  master  should  be  in  arms,  or  even  absent  during  the  progress  of 
the  British  army.  The  whigs  of  Mecklenberg,  through  which  county  the  armies 
must  march,  had  too  good  an  excuse  at  this  time  for  remaining  at  home,  and 
both  to  the  north  and  east  of  them,  the  loyalists  probably  outnumbered  their 
opponents.  From  points  more  distant,  time  had  not  yet  elapsed  to  expect 
reinforcements  since  the  letters  were  dispatched  which  solicited  aid.  Nor 
could  any  reasonable  hopes  be  entertained  of  aid  from  the  brave  race  who 
had  swarmed  around  Ferguson;  for  the  cares  of  husbandry  pressed  heavily 
also  on  them.  And,  as  generally  had  been  the  case  on  all  other  occasions,  the 
march  of  the  British  army  had  been  announced  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  fron 
tier  by  a  simultaneous  incursion  of  the  Indians,  headed,  it  was  asserted,  by 
whites  painted  as  Indians.f 

It  is  true  that  General  Morgan  was  about  this  time  engaged  in  a  disagreeable 
altercation,  but  it  was  with  Colonel  Sumptcr,  on  the  subject  of  the  magazines 
as  previously  mentioned,  not  with  General  Greene.  The  latter  was  obliged 
to  take  part  in  it  at  die  instance  of  General  Morgan,  but  so  far  from  giving 
oflence  to  Morgan,  that,  thinking  him  in  the  right,  he  pointedly,  bin  in  the 
most  delicate  terms,  remonstrated  with  Colonel  Sumpteron  the  occasion.  To 
manage  two  such  towering  spirits  was  a  task  of  no  little  delicacy;  but  not 
withstanding  the  utmost  efforts  were  used  to  avoid  giving  umbrage  to  either,  it 
is  the  opinion  of  some,  that  it  was  the  origin  of  a  coolness  in  Sumpter  towards 


Cploncl  Lee.  t  Governor  Rutledge's  letter,  30th  December  1780. 

52 


410  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE 

Greene  which  never  subsided.  The  correspondence  on  the  occasion  with 
both  these  officers  is  before  us,  and  exhibits  a  knowledge  of  human  character, 
a  painful  apprehension  for  the  consequences  of  dissensions  and  disgust  among 
his  officers,  and  a  lively  anxiety  to  obviate  them,  highly  characteristic,  and 
doing  great  honour  to  the  feelings  and  talents  of  the  commander. 

It  is  not  easy  to  assign  a  satisfactory  or  even  plausible  reason  for  Colonel 
Sumpter's  interference  on  that  occasion,  to  prevent  his  officers  from  executing 
the  commands  of  General  Morgan.  The  commander  of  the  southern  depart 
ment  was  not  only  the  supreme  military  governor  of  the  country,  but  Colonel 
Sumpter  was  at  that  time  actually  out  of  the  state,  still  confined  by  his  wounds. 
Colonel  Sumpter,  it  seems,  complained  of  some  interference  of  Morgan  with 
his  commands,  but  in  what  instances,  or  to  what  effect  we  are  not  informed. 
But  supposing  it  to  have  existed,  still  the  authority  of  General  Greene  was 
sufficeint  to  sanction  it,  and  although  Colonel  Sumpter  might  have  had  cause 
to  complain,  nothing  could  justify  him  in  undertaking  to  resist  the  execution 
of  an  order  from  the  commander  of  the  southern  department.  Upon  the 
complaint  of  Morgan,  General  Greene  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  disgust,  by 
an  exercise  of  authority,  an  officer  on  whose  services  he  set  such  value  as 
those  of  Colonel  Sumpter.  A  correspondence  and  personal  interview  with 
that  officer  ensued,  and  the  following  two  extracts  will  show  that,  if  this  inter 
ference  was  ever  remembered  by  Colonel  Sumpter  with  resentment,  there  wa* 
no  just  cause  furnished  by  General  Greene  for  exciting  such  a  feeling. 
. 

General  Greene  to  Colonel  Sumpter,  January  19tfi,  1781,  Pee  Dec. 

•*  DEAR  SIR, 

"  I  have  just  received  letters  from  General  Morgan,  informing  me  of  his 
situation,  ard  representing  the  difficulties  he  meets  with  in  collecting  provi 
sions;  and  among  other  things  he  mentions  some  embarrassment  which  has 
arisen  from  an  order  of  yours  to  Colonel  Hill,  not  to  obey  any  order  from 
him  unless  it  came  through  you.  I  imagine  there  must  be  some  misapprehen 
sion  about  the  matter,  for  I  cannot  suppose  you  would  give  an  improper  order, 
or  that  you  have  the  most  distant  wish  to  embarrass  the  public  affairs. 

"  It  is  certainly  right  that  all  orders  should  go  through  the  principal  to  the 
dependants,  as  well  for  the  preservation  of  good  government,  as  to  inspire  a 
proper  respect.  This  is  a  general  rule,  and  ought  not  to  be  deviated  from  but 
in  case  of  necessity,  or  where  the  difficulty  of  conveying  an  order  through  the 
principal  will  be  attended  with  a  fatal  delay.  In  that  case,  the  order  should 
be  directed  to  the  branches  and  not  to  the  head,  and  as  the  head  is  subject  to 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

such  order,  the  members  are  of  course ;  for  it  would  be  very  extraordinary  j  if  CHAP. 
a  captain  should  dispute  an  order  from  his  general,  because  it  was  hot  com-  ^-^^ 
Diunicated  through  his  colonel.     At  the  same  time  that  the  right  is  indisputa 
ble,  it  should  always  be  avoided  but  in  cases  of  absolute  necessity. 

"  General  Morgan  is  an  exceedingly  good  officer  and  understands  his  duty 
perfectly,  and  I  know  he  has  die  highest  respect  for  your  character;  and  there 
fore  am  perfectly  persuaded,  if  there  has  been  any  interference  different  from 
the  general  principles  which  should  govern  military  matters,  it  must  have  hap 
pened  through  inadvertence,  or  from  a  persuasion  that  you  did  not  mean  to 
exercise  command  during  the  time  of  your  indisposition. 

"  If  any  thing  in  his  conduct  has  had  the  appearance  of  indelicacy  or  ne 
glect,  I  hope  you  will  not  suffer  it  to  bias  your  conduct  from  that  line,  which 
has  given  you  weight  and  influence  among  your  countrymen.  It  is  the  mark 
of  a  great  mind  to  rise  superior  to  little  injuries,  and  our  object  should  be  the 
good  of  our  country,  not  personal  glory." 
. 

The  same  to  the  same,  She-raid's  Fora*,  February  3d,  1781. 

"  DEAft  SIR, 

"When  I  had  the  pleasure  of  a  personal  interview  with  you,  I  discovered 
nothing  mercenary  or  illiberal  in  your  disposition.  On  the  contrary,  I  was 
charmed  with  the  spirit  of  enterprise  you  exhibited,  which  I  flattered  myself 
would  be  no  less  beneficial  to  your  country  than  honourable  to  yourself.  I 
still  entertain  die  same  sentiments,  and  I  can  assure  you  I  shall  be  equally  as 
happy  in  an  opportunity  to  do  justice  to  your  merits  as  to  those  of  General 
Morgan.  In  what  respect  General  Morgan's  command  embarrassed  you,  I 
am  at  loss  to  imagine;  but  I  dare  say  I  could  explain  it  to  your  perfect  satis 
faction  in  a  few  minutes,  could  I  have  the  happiness  to  see  you.  I  consider 
you  both  as  valuable  men,  as  well  as  brave  and  good  officers,  and  I  hope  the 
merit  of  one  does  not  in  the  least  detract  from  that  of  the  other. 

"  It  is  true,  I  wish  to  see  you  again  in  the  field,  and  I  have  ever  considered 
it  a  great  misfortune,  that  you  weie  wounded  on  my  first  coming  to  the  com 
mand.  I  have  not  time  to  go  more  fully  into  the  subject;  we  will  postpone  the 
matter  until  we  have  the  pleasure  of  meeting.  The  inhabitants  are  sensible 
of  your  merits,  and  the  world  does  you  justice,"  &c. 

We  cannot  discover  from  any  of  the  correspondence  of  this  period,  that  the 
discussion  on  this  subject  left  any  hostile  impressions  between  Colonel  Sumpter 
and  General  Greene.  As  between  Sumpter  and  Morgan  there  is  reason  to 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  think  there  was  no  reconciliation ;  these  two  brave  men  probably  ever  after 
recollected  each  other  with  no  very  friendly  emotions.  It  is,  however,  but  too 
natural  in  man  to  transfer  the  feelings  excited  against  a  successful  opponent  to 
the  judge  who  decides  in  his  favour.  Man  seldom  views  with  complacency 
the  face  that  accuses  him  of  error  or  offence,  or  reminds  him  of  defeat  or  mor 
tification.  And  the  secret  workings  of  feeling,  influence  our  opinions  and 
actions,  where  we  would  resist  it  were  we  sensible  of  its  operation.  It  is  the 
silent  progress  of  contagion  in  the  veins.* 

The  real  cause  of  Morgan's  disappearing  about  this  time  from  the  stage  of 
the  war,  was  unquestionably  a  serious  indisposition.  No  Jess  than  ague  and 
rheumatism,  contracted  during  this  severe  winter  campaign.  His  health  had 
been  considerably  affected  before  he  crossed  the  Catawba,  but  in  the  hurried 
march  from  that  river  to  the  Yadkin,  it  rained  incessantly,  and  before  the  army 
reached  Guilford,  he  could  no  longer  withstand  the  combined  attacks  of  those 
racking  diseases. 

Col.  Lee,  in  speaking  of  this  event,  seems  plainly  to  intimate  that  his  retire 
ment  arose  from  some  other  cause ;  that  his  indisposition  was  nothing  serious, 
perhaps  feigned.  But  an  event  occurred,  on  the  very  day  on  which  the  conver 
sation  happened  between  himself  and  General  Morgan  which  he  relates,f 
which  has  caused  a  record  to  be  preserved  of  the  fact,  and  of  General  Greene's 
conviction,  that  the  indisposition  was  too  great  to  admit  of  his  being  detached 
on  active  duty. 

After  the  fall  of  their  gallant  commander  General  Davidson,  and  die  advance 
of  the  British  army  to  the  Yadkin,  (as  will  be  hereafter  related,)  the  whigs  of 
Mecklenberg,  being  called  upon  to  attempt  a  diversion  in  the  rear  of  the 
enemy,  wrote  to  General  Greene,  to  solicit  that  he  would  detach  General 
Morgan  for  that  service,  promising  much,  from  the  influence  of  his  name  and 
talents,  in  drawin^  forth  volunteers  from  their  homes.  To  this  letter  General 

'  O 


*  Some  further  explanation  of  this  affair  will  perhaps  result  from  the  following  facts.  It  has  been 
•een,  that  immediately  after  General  Morgan's  arrival  in  camp,  General  Gates  had  placed  him  in 
command  of  a  detachment  of  light-infantry,  and  employed  him  in  several  enterprises.  As  the  com 
mands  of  the  different  state  officers  were  extended  over  specified  tracts  of  country,  it  happened  that 
where  they  ranked  Morgan,  he  found  himself  thus  subjected  to  their  command.  This  was  particu 
larly  the  case  with  regard  to  Colonel  Sumpter.  To  obviate  this  inconvenience,  Gates  applied  to 
congress,  and  was  warmly  seconded  by  Governor  Rutk-dge,  to  advance  Morgan  to  the  rank  of  a 
general.  The  application  succeeded,  and  if  any  indignant  feeling  was  excited  in  the  mind  of  Colonel 
Sumpter  on  this  occasion,  it  must  have  been  aggravated  when  General  Greene  expressly  gave  to 
.Morgan  command  over  a  part  of  Colonel  Sumpters  distiict. — GOP.  Rutledge,  4th  Oct.  17 

+  VoL  1.  p.  275. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  413 

Greene  returns  an  answer,  dated  Guilford  Court-House,  February  9th,  in  CHAP. 
which  he  says,  "  The  general  is  so  unwell,  that  he  could  not  discharge  the  >^~v-^/ 
duties  of  the  appointment  if  he  had  it." 

Subsequent  letters  show  that  Morgan  was  arrested  on  his  journey  home 
wards  by  the  progress  of  disease,  and  obliged  to  halt  at  the  mansion  of  a  friend 
to  restore  his  shattered  health.  Yet  his  letters  constantly  discover  that  he  cast 
a  "  longing,  lingering  look  behind,"  and  was  prevented  by  nothing  but  in 
creased  indisposition  from  rejoining  the  army.  We  shall  not  dismiss  him  alto 
gether  as  yet  from  our  reader's  notice ;  for,  although  not  actually  present  at  the 
batde  of  Guilford,  we  shall  have  to  notice  a  signal  instance  of  the  respect  in 
T/hich  General  Greene  held  his  advice  on  that  occasion.  To  recur  to  the  story 
of  his  intention  to  make  for  the  mountains  ;  we  can  assign  but  one  possible 
cause  for  its  origin.  It  is  obvious  that  Lord  Corawallis  acted  upon  the  sup 
position  that  such  was  his  intention,  as  will  be  seen  by  examining  his  line  of 
inarch ;  and  this  was  probably  the  true  reason  why  he  follow-ed  the  route  by 
Ramsour's  Mills,  instead  of  striking  across  the  country  -below  them.  And  into 
this  misapprehension  both  he  and  the  American  writers  may  have  been  led  by 
the  attempt  made  to  establish  magazines  in  that  direction,  which  certainly 
were  intended  by  Greene  to  provide  for  a  rapid  movement  towards  the  moun 
tains,  should  Morgan  have  been  cut  off  from  a  more  immediate  route  to  form 
a  junction  with  the  main  army. 

But  to  return  to  the  progress  of  events.  When  the  commander  of  the 
southern  army  arrived  at  Morgan's  camp,  the  latter  lay  at  Sherald's  Ford,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Catawba  River.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and 
but  a  few  miles  distant  from  it,  the  British  army  was  encamped,  waiting  for  an 
opportunity  to  force  a  passage.  At  present  this  was  impossible,  and  the  two 
armies  lay  in  perfect  security  from  each  other,  although  but  a  few  miles  dis 
tant.  For  such  is  the  precipitance  of  the  river  when  swollen  by  rains,  as  to 
baffle  every  human  effort  to  pass  it.  But  the  same  cause  makes  it  subside 
rapidly.  And  the  two  armies  lay  in  sight  of  each  other,  anxiously  watching 
those  indications  which  foretel  its  return  to  its  ordinary  level.  In  the  course 
of  the  31st  it  became  obvious  that  this  event  must  soon  take  place. 

When  General  Greene  left  his  army  on  the  Pee  Dee,  their  orders,  it  will  be 
recollected,  were  to  cross  that  river,  then  to  proceed  up  the  stream,  and  with 
all  possible  dispatch  to  reach  Salisbury.  Here  they  were  to  receive  his  fur 
ther  orders ;  and  he  contemplated  either  to  order  their  further  advance  to  the 
Catawba,  should  the  enemy  still  not  have  passed  it,  and  the  reinforcements  of 
militia  been  such,  as  to  justify  an  attempt  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  enemy 
at  that  or  some  intermediate  point:  or,  if  otherwise,  to  forni  a  junction  beyond 


414>  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

.CHAP.   Salisbury  and  make  a  stand  on  the.  east  bank  of  the  Yadkin,  at  the  crossing- 
^^s^,  place  distinguished  as  the  trading  or  island  ford.     This  is  the  nearest  public 
ford  to  Salisbury. 

But  the  causes  which  have  been  already  detailed,  had  prevented  the  militia 
from  embodying,  and  notwithstanding  the  most  vigorous  efforts  of  General 
Davidson,  and  the  early  and  reiterated  instances  of  General  Greene,  there 
were  only  about  500  volunteers  in  the  field.  As  the  river  was  now  falling, 
200  of  these  were  necessarily  posted  in  detachments  at  the  different  fords  for 
thirty  miles  along  the  river,  to  guard  against  surprise ;  and  General  Davidson 
was  ordered  to  retain  with  him  a  corps  of  observation  of  about  300  mounted 
riflemen,  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  and  annoy  him  on  his  pas 
sage  wherever  it  should  finally  appear  that  he  intended  to  attempt  crossing. 
The  fords  in  that  neighbourhood,  are  very  numerous,  and  the  British  com 
mander  was  so  posted,  and  had  so  masked  his  intentions,  that  it  required  much 
watchfulness  to  give  a  proper  direction  to  this  little  force.  But  Davidson's 
capacity  was  competent  to  the  task,  and,  notwithstanding  all  the  false  indica 
tions  which  the  enemy  displayed,  he  was  ready  to  meet  them  at  M'Cowen's 
Ford  at  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  1st,  when  they  attempted  their  pas 
sage, 

Morgan's  detachment  was  encamped  the  day  before  at  Beaty's  Ford,  six 
miles  above  M'Cowen's,  and  nearly  that  distance  nearer  to  Salisbury. 

As  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  that  the  Catawba  was  falling,  that  no  more 
militia  were  to  be  expected,  and  that  the  enemy  were  making  dispositions  to 
pass  the  river,  a  hasty  retreat  of  the  party  under  Morgan  became  inevitable. 
Accordingly,  he  moved  off  in  silence  on  the  evening  of  the  31st,  and  pressing 
his  march  all  that  night  and  a  part  of  the  next  day,  he  gained  a  full  day's 
march  upon  his  adversary. 

General  Greene  had  remained  behind  with  a  view  to  bring  off  the  militia, 
as  soon  as  the  enemy  had  effected  the  passage  of  the  river;  and  for  this  pur 
pose  he  had  issued  orders  for  them  to  repair,  as  soon  as  that  event  should  take 
place,  to  a  'rendezvous  appointed  about  sixteen  miics  in  advance,  upon  the 
road  to  Salisbury.  To  the  place  of  rendezvous  he  repaired  in  person  to  await 
their  arrival,  and  at  that  place  he  was  very  near  terminating  his  military  ca 
reer.  • 

At  the  same  time  that  Cormvallis  attempted  M'Cowen's  Ford  in  person,  he, 
dispatched  Colonels  Webster  and  Tarleton,  with  a  strong  detachment  to  pass 
the  river  at  Beaty?s,  liigher  up  the  stream.  Finding  that  ford  abandoned,  it 
was  passed  without  loss  or  delay,  and  one  of  those  fortuitous  circumstances  to 
which  we  have  already  frequently  referred,  saved  the  division  of  the  army 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  415 

under  Cornwallis  from  sustaining  any  material  injury  from  the  attack  of  Da-  CHAP. 
vidson.  w-v^y 

It  was  fortunate  for  Lord  Cornwallis  that  he  attempted  this  passage  in  the 
night;  the  appalling  prospect  of  a  stream  five  hundred  yards  in  width,  foam 
ing  among  the  rocks,  and  frequently  overturning  men  and  horses  in  its  course, 
might  have  shaken  the  stoutest  heart.  Nor  would  the  aim  of  the  riflemen  then 
have  been  distracted  by  the  shades  of  night,  or  been  directed  by  nothing  but 
the  voice  of  the  British  officers,  the  increased  noise  of  the  current,  or  the  mu 
tual  exhortations  of  the  British  soldiers.  Placed  among  the  trees  and  bushes 
that  lined  the  banks,  secure  and  destructive  must  have  been  their  aim  against 
a  body  of  men  plunged  up  to  their  waists,  moving  slowly  as  they  supported 
themselves  against  the  stream,  and  strove  to  preserve  their  arms  from  the 
spray.  But  a  singular  instance  of  good  fortune  attended  the  British  com 
mander.  He  was  saved  from  injury  by  a  misfortune.  In  the  midst  of  the 
stream  their  guide  got  alarmed  and  fled  away.  The  advance  took  the  wrong 
course  and  escaped  the  danger  that  awaited  them. 

Davidson  had  posted  his  men  so  as  to  receive  the  enemy  at  the  point  where, 
they  well  knew  the  course  of  the  ford  led  to  the  eastern  bank.  Upon  losing 
their  guide  the  enemy  deviated  from  the  ford,  waded  through  water  somewhat 
deeper,  but  approached  a  point  where  they  were  not  expected.  The  darkness 
of  the  night,  and  the  noise  of  the  waters  prevented  this  deviation  from  being 
discovered  until  the  enemy  approached  the  margin  of  the  river;  and  as  Da 
vidson  led  off  his  men  to  take  a  position  in  their  front,  it  brought  him  between 
the  light  of  his  (ires  and  tlie  advancing  column.  A  well-directed  volley  from 
them  put  an  end  to  his  existence  as  he  mounted  his  horse.  Thus  fell  a  brave 
and  tried  patriot,  universally  deplored.  His  men  soon  dispersed  after  his  fall, 
though  not  without  avenging  it  by  the  death  of  a  number  of  the  enemy,  and 
among  the  rest  of  Colonel  Hall  of  the  guards,  who  appears  to  have  been  highly 
esteemed  and  much  regretted  by  his  companions  in  arms.  Lord  Cornwallis 
himself  probably  owed  his  safety  to  the  darkness  of  the  night  and  the  deviation 
of  his  troops,  for,  sensible  of  the  dangers  and  difficulties' of  the  undertaking,  he 
had  pressed  forward  with  his  advance,  and  had  his  horse  so  wounded  under 
him  as  barely  to  stagger  to  the  shore  and  expire. 

At  the  distance  of  about  ten  miles  from  M'Cowen's  Fords,  die  roads  from 
the  different  fords  converge  and  unite  near  a  place  called  Tarrant's  Tavern. 
Here  many  of  the  fugitives  from  the  different  fords  convened  in  the  course  of 
the  day,  and  some,  to  the  number  of  about  100,  proposing  to  proceed  in  the 
evening  to  the  place  of  rendezvous,  and  imagining  themselves  in  a  place  of 
safety,  very  indiscreetly  made  a  halt  to  take  refreshment.  Most  of  those  who 


416  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

• 

CHAP,   had  been  on  duty,  terrified  at  the  fall  of  their  commander  and  the  retreat  of 

s^r^^w/the  army  under  Morgan,  had  made  the  best  of  their  way  from  the  posts  they 

had  occupied,  directly  home.     Others,  after   convening  at  this  place,   had 

adopted  the  same  resolution,  so  that  of  die  500  who  had  been  on  duty  in  the 

morning,  a  very  small  proportion  now  remained. 

Colonel  TaHcton  soon  got  intelligence  of  the  party  assembled  at  Tarrant's; 
and  with  a  promptness  and  vigour  which  certainly  characterized  his  move 
ments,  he  resolved  to  strike  at  it.  The  officer  who  was  senior  in  command  of 
the  militia  was  not  inattentive  to  the  ordinary  precaution  against  surprise,  and 
when  the  approach  of  the  hostile  dragoons  was  announced,  the  men  flew  to 
their  horses,  delivered  one  deliberate  fire,  and  dashed  into  the  woods.  The 
pursuit  would  have  been  vain.  The  facility  acquired  by  men  of  this  descrip 
tion  in  guiding  their  horses  and  securing  their  rifle  when  pursued,  is  the  result 
of  early  habit  and  frequent  practice  in  the  hunt  of  wild  animals. 

But  there  was  another  cause  for  arresting  the  pursuit.  A  few  victims  re 
mained  to  glut  the  English  broadsword.  These  were  a  small  number  of  old 
men  and  boys,  either  not  mounted  or  badly  mounted,  who  sought  security  in 
imploring  mercy  on  their  gray  hairs,  or  their  youth.  Seven  of  them  were 
wantonly  sacrificed,  and  that  number  is  boastingly  swelled  in  Tarleton's  Cam 
paigns,  to  the  number  of  fifty.  Dearly  did  the  loyalists  afterwards  pay  for  the 
bloodx  of  these  men.* 

,  With  characteristic  accuracy  the  colonel  has  also  magnified  the  number  of 
the  party  up  to  five  hundred,  and  numbered  the  gallant  Colonel  Locke  with 
the  slain.  He  also  admits  the  fall  of  seven  of  his  men  and  twenty  horses. ,  Had 
the  half  of  five  hundred  been  present,  they  would  probably  have  dismounted 
his  whole  party;  and  as  to  Colonel  Locke,  we  can  produce  many  of  his  letters 
to  prove  that  he  was  alive  long  after.  His  baggage  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  but  liis  good  steed  soon  bore  him  beyond  the  reach  of  danger. 

After  this  exploit,  which  occurred  early  in  the  afternoon,  Tarlcton  leisurely 
retired  to  the  main  army,  little  dreaming  of  the  prize  which  then  lay  but  seven 
miles  in  advance  of  Tarrant's,  and  which  twenty  nimble  horsemen  would 
most  probably  have  succeeded  in  securing  and  conducting  to  camp.  This 
was  General  Greene  and  his  suite,  who  had  taken  his  stand  at  the  place  of 
rendezvous,  and  remained  there  until  after  midnight,  when  learning  the  fate 
of  Davidson,  and  total  dispersion  of  the  militia,  he  proceeded  on  to  Salisbury. 


Brevanl. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  417 

Oil  his  arrival  at  Steel's  Tavern  in  Salisbury,  it  was  impossible  not  to  perceive   CHAP. 
in  the  deranged  state  of  his  dress  and  the  stiffness  of  his  limbs,  some  symptoms  of  ^r^^, 
his  late  rapid  movements  and  exposure  to  the  weather;  and  to  the  inquiries  of 
Dr.  Read,  who  received  him  on  his  alighting,  he  could  not  refrain  from  answer 
ing,  "  Yes,  fatigued,  hungry,  alone,  and  pennyless."    This  reply  did  not  escape 
the  quick  ears  of  his  benevolent  landlady;  and  he  was  scarcely  seated  at  a  com 
fortable  breakfast,  when  she  presented  herself  in  the  room,  closed  the  door,  and 
exhibited  a  small  bag  of  specie  in  each  hand.    "  Take  these,"  said  she,  "  for 
vou  will  want  them,  and  I  can  do  without  them." 

An  acquisition  so  important  even  to  the  public  service,  was  not  to  be  de 
clined  from  excess  of  delicacy,  and  the  favour  was  afterwards  amply  repaid. 
But  the  general  hurried  away  after  a  hasty  meal,  for  his  friends  warned  him 
against  the  numbers  and  hostility  of  the  loyalists  who  surrounded  him,  and  he  . 
hastened  to  rejoin  the  army  then  passing  over  the  Yaclkin. 

Refreshed  and  recruited  by  the  halt  on  the  Catawba,  Morgan  made  a  rapid 
inarch  to  the  trading  ford,  and  by  the  evening  of  the  3d,  had  effected  the  pas 
sage  of  it,  and  seated  himself  on  the  western  bank  to  mock  the  unavailing  pur 
suit  of  his  disappointed  adversary.  Lord  Cornwallis  had  now  entered  upon 
a  desperate  effort  to  retrieve  the  ground  he  had  lost  by  his  previous  want  of 
decision;  a  second  conflagration  of  waggons  and  baggage  had  announced  his 
preparations  to  resume  his  march.*  But  still  he  was  destined  to  feel  the  con- 
quences  of  a  want  of  correct  intelligence.  Bold  as  was  the  design  and  vigorous 
the*  execution  of  his  plan  for  passing  the  Catawba  River,f  the  very  measure  of 
attempting  a  private  and  little  frequented  ford,  for  which  he  claims  some  merit, 
involved  him  in  a  consequence  he  had  not  anticipated.  The  road  to  it  not 
having  been  well  opened,  his  waggons  and  artillery  were  so  much  delayed  that 
on  the  evening  of  the  1st,  although  he  had  passed  the  river  by  day-break,  he 
found  himself  but  a  few  miles  advanced  upon  the  road  to  Salisbury.  Then  for 
the  first  time,  he  began  to  act  with  that  decision  and  promptness  for  which  ho 
has  been  so  much  lauded.  By  the  destruction  of  his  baggage  and  waggons,  he 
was  enabled  not  only  to  double  his  teams,  but  to  mount  a  considerable  body  of 
infantry.  Joining  his  mounted  infantry  to  his  cavalry,  he  pushed  forward  a 
formidable  corps  under  General  O'Hara,  in  hopes  to  overtake  and  detain  his 
adversary  before  he  could  pass  the  river;  and  thus  at  length  effect  the  purpose 
for  which  he  had  made  such  great  sacrifices,  and  which  was  so  indispensable 
both  to  the  service  of  his  sovereign  and  his  own  military  fame.  But  it  was  in 


O.  L.  to  Gen.  Iluger.  1st  February.  t  TarJeton,  &rc. 

53 


418  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

V 

C^IAP.  vain.  An  incessant  rain  which  drenched  the  army  of  Morgan  through  the 
^rv*^  whole  of  the  day  and  night  of  the  1st,  only  quickened  the  celerity  of  his  move 
ments.  Greene  knew  that  a  rise  of  the  river  in  two  days  afterwards  was  the 
ordinary  consequence,  and  pressed  their  advance  before  the  occurrence  of  an 
event,  which  might  give  them  security  on  the  one  hand,  or  expose  them  to  delay 
on  the  other. — But  not  to  destruction ;  for  he  had  prepared  the  means  of  obvi 
ating  that  evil. 

It  will  be  recollected,  that  very  early,  even  before  he  had  reached  his  com 
mand,  he  had  adopted  the  means  of  converting  the  navigable  streams  of  the 
country  into  highways  for  transporting  supplies  to  his  army.  It  will  also  be 
recollected,  that  his  plan  of  operations,  upon  the  advance  of  the  British  com 
mander,  involved  some  probable  munceuvring  about  the  trading  ford,  which 
might  render  the  quick  passage  of  the  Yadkin  either  for  attack  or  defence,  an 
important  object.  Both  these  purposes  had  led  to  the  collection  of  the  boats 
for  some  distance  up  and  down  that  river,  at  this  point.  And  now  the  advan 
tages  of  this  foresight  were  developed.  The  transportation  of  the  American 
infantry  and  baggage  was  easily  effected,  and  the  waters  were  not  too  high  for 
the  cavalry  to  ford  it.  Yet  the  enemy  were  upon  them  before  the  rear-guard 
was  removed.  This  wras  the  consequence  of  a  circumstance  which  had  not 
been  foreseen,  and  could  not  be  guarded  against.  Some  wanton  and  unne 
cessary  acts  of  severity  already  committed,  had  excited  an  alarm  among  tho 
whigs  of  Salisbury,  and  hastening  away  with  their  families  to  follow  the  Ame 
rican  army,  their  waggons  had  fallen  into  the  line  of  march  with  the  baggnge 
of  the  army ;  and  as  the  rear-guard  was  composed  of  militia,  many  of  them 
the  friends  or  relatives  of  the  fugitives,  and  no  immediate  danger  apprehended, 
no  opposition  had  been  made  to  the  measure,  or  unwillingness  exhibited  by 
that  corps  to  suffer  them  to  pass.  But  before  the  whole  could  be  got  over,  the 
enemy  were  upon  them,  and  a  smart  skirmish  ensued,  in  which  both  parties 
claimed  the  advantage.  It  is  certain  that  the  rear-guard  made  good  their 
retreat  without  loss,  and  that  the  enemy  sustained  some;  still  a  few  of  the 
rearmost  waggons  were  taken.  This  rencontre  took  place  at  midnight,  and 
the  nature  of  the  ground  favoured  the  retreat  of  the  American  party. 

One  day's  effort  such  as  this,  at  any  time  prior  to  Morgan's  passing  the 
Catawba, -might  have  deprived  the  American  army  of  all  the  fruits  of  the  day 
of  the  Cow^ens,  except  the  glory.  Its  partial  success  fastens  on  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  the  reproof  of  not  having  made  it  before ;  for,  the  infantry  alone  pushed 
forward  on  this  occasion,  were  so  superior  to  the  American  force,  as  to  dis 
pense  with  the  cavalry  and  sit  down  in  security  on  the  west  bank  of  the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  419 

Yadkin,  in  face  of  an  enemy  abundantly  supplied  with  the  means  of  suddenly   CHIP. 
recrossing  to  attack  them.  >^-v^' 

But  die  effort  was  transient  and  desultory,  and  Lord  Cornwallis  appears  to 
have  been  revisited  with  his  yawning  fit  upon  reaching  Salisbury. 

It  was  not  long  before  Cornwallis  with  the  whole  British  army,  appeared  on 
the  bank  of  the  river;  and  a  furious  cannonading  was  opened  upon  the  Ame 
ricans  on  the  opposite  bank,  but  without  effect  Morgan  secured  his  men 
behind  a  rising  ground,  while  the  rocks  on  the  margin  afforded  shelter  to  his 
sentinels.  Artillery  he  had  none,  for  the  two  pieces  taken  at  the  Cowpens  had 
been  placed  in  waggons  and  hurried  on  along  with  the  prisoners.  During  the 
cannonading  a  respectable  eye-witness  thus  relates  the  manner  in  which  the 
commander  of  the  department  was  occupied :  "  At  a  little  distance  from  the 
river  and  behind  a  pile  of  rocks,  was  situated  a  small  cabin.  In  this  die  gene 
ral  had  taken  up  his  quarters,  and  while  his  family  and  some  of  the  staff  were 
amusing  themselves  as  they  thought  proper,  he  was  busily  engaged  in  prepar 
ing  his  dispatches.  All  this  time  the  artillery  was  playing  furiously,  but 
seemed  tc  attract  no  one's  attention.  At  length,  however,  whether  from  intel 
ligence  or  conjecture,  their  rage  seemed  to  vent  itself  exclusively  at  our  cabin, 
and  the  balls  were  heard  to  rebound  against  the  rocks  direcdy  in  the  rear  of  it 
Litde  more  than  its  roof  showed  above  diem,  and  at  this  the  firing  was  obvi 
ously  directed.  Nor  were  they  long  without  striking  it,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
the  clap-boards  were  flying  from  it  in  all  directions.  But  still  the  general 
wrote  on,  nor  seemed  to  notice  any  thing  but  his  dispatches,  and  the  innumera 
ble  applications  that  were  made  to  him  from  various  quarters.  His  pen  never 
rested  but  when  a  new  visiter  arrived,  and  then  the  answer  was  given  with 
calmness  and  precision,  and  the  pen  immediately  resumed."* 

As  the  boats  had  been  all  secured  on  the  opposite  bank,  and  would  cer 
tainly  be  destroyed  before  the  American  army  decamped,  it  was  at  once  obvi 
ous,  that  the  British  commander  must  take  a  circuitous  route  by  the  shallow 
ford,  a  few  miles  higher  .up  but  not -much  out  of  the  route  to  Salem,  (to  which 
the  American  general  seemed  obviously  directing  his  steps,)  or  await  the  uncer 
tain,  and  at  that  season,  improbable  event,  of  the  fall  of  the  waters.  Yet  for 
four  days  Cornwallis  lay  tranquilly  in  Salisbury,  and  it  was  not  until  the  even 
ing  of  the  second  after  his  arrival,  that  he  detached  a  party  to  reconnoitre  the 
country,  and  examine  the  streams  ou  the  route  by  the  shallow  ford.  The  con 
sequence  was  that  he  did  not  pass  the  Yadkin  until  the  morning  of  the  8th,f  and 


Dr.  Read.  t  Official  letter. 


420  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  this,  notwithstanding  that  the  river,  instead  of  rising  after  Greene's  passage,  as 
x^v->w  historians  generally  assert,  actually  began  to  fall  on  the  evening  of  the  4th  so 
rapidly,  that  it  became  obvious  it  would  be  fordable  the  next  morning ;  and 
Greene,  after  halting  a  day,  resumed  his  march  on  the  evening  of  the  4th,* 
From  the  indecisive  movements  attributed  to  the  British  commander  in  the 
correspondence  of  this  date,  first  down  the  river  and  then  up  it,  it  is  reasona 
ble  to  conclude  that  he  was  at  this  time  pondering  upon  the  question  whether 
he  should  attempt  to  cross  below  and  cut  off  his  adversary  from  his  main  army; 
or  by  pushing  up  the  river,  intercept  his  march  for  the  fords  of  the  Dan,  and 
then  turn  upon  him  when  hemmed  in  between  the  Roanoke  and  Yadkin, 
thus  to  effect  his  designs  as  well  on  the  divison  under  Morgan,  as  the  main 
army  under  Huger.  The  latter  was  at  length  resolved  on,  and  one  reason 
assigned  for  it  betrays  a  miserable  specimen  of  defective  intelligence — "  that  he 
was  informed,  the  American  commander  could  not  collect  many  flats  at  any 
of  the  ferries  on  the  river  Dan."f  He  little  thought  of  the  provident  care 
which  had  dispatched  Carrington,  and  under  him  Captain  Smith  of  the  Mary 
land  line,  to  examine  and  improve  the  facilities,  and  remove  the  obstacles 
which  the  crossing-places  on  that  river  presented. 

All  the  writers  who  have  treated  of  this  celebrated  retreat  of  our  American 
500,  (not  10,000,)  have  considered  it  as  a  mere  flight;  it  has  been  emphatically 
pronounced  "  a  military  race,"!  and  much  as  admiration  has  been  excited  by 
its  vigour  and  success,  full  justice  has  never  been  done  to  the  abilities  displayed 
in  it,  because  all  the  views  which  directed  the  American  commander,  as  well 
as  the  dangers  that  threatened  and  difficulties  that  embarrassed  him,  have 
never  been  fully  explained  or  duly  estimated.  Indeed,  important  facts  have 
been  suppressed,  because  they  must  appear  irreconcilable  with  the  single  view 
of  escaping;  and  some  of  his  measures  bear  the  appearance  of  indiscretion, 
because  the  motives  for  adopting  them  have  not  been  kept  in  view.  In  the 
present  instance,  if  escape  had  been  the  sole  object  of  the  American  move 
ments,  why  halt  a  day  on  the  Yadkin,  while  the  height  of  the  river  secured 
their  rear?  or  why,  after  advancing  but  twenty -five  miles,  make  a  further  halt 
of  four  days?  Yet  it  is  certain,  although  not  mentioned  or  not  insisted  upon 
by  historians,  these  halts  were  made,  and  their  silence  on  this  point  can  only 


Both  Lee  and  Tarlcton  are  inaccurate  in  their  dates  as  to  these  events.     The  one  a  day  too 

the  other  a  day  too  late.     In  such  a  chase,  tlu's  is  no  immaterial  circumstance. 
1  Letter  17th  March  1781,  to  Lord  Geo.  Germain. 
$  Ramsay's  Revolution  in  South  Carolina,  vol.  2.  p.  207- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  421 

be  ascribed  to  the  difficulty  of  reconciling  such  delays  \vith  the  idea  of  "  a   CHAP. 
military  chase."     But  by  testing  these  measures  by  the  motives  and  views >M^-v^vr 
already  explained  to  the  reader  as  influencing  the  conduct  of  the  American 
commander,  he  will  see  both  their  wisdom  and  necessity.     Yet,  to  amuse, 
avoid,  delay  and  still  draw  on  a  superior  enemy,  was  a  delicate  game ;  and 
the  apprehensions  of  the  American  commander  were  frequently  all  awakened, 
by  the  extreme  difficulty  he  found  in  collecting  provisions.     The  country  was 
now  all  in  alarm  and  in  motion,  provisions  removed,  concealed,  or  destroyed, 
and  the  roads  cut  to  pieces  by  the  waggons  of  the  whigs,  bearing  off  their 
families  and  the  means  of  their  subsistence. 

An  event  had  recently  occurred  which  had  spread  this  alarm  to  no  ordinary 
extent.  On  the  route  to  Salem  stood  the  d \velling-house  of  an  aged  lady*  o 
the  most  respectable  character  and  connexions.  In  the  security  of  innocence 
and  widowhood,  she  had  remained  in  it  with  the  younger  branches  of  her 
family,  notwithstanding  the  approach  of  the  British  army.  Her  house  with 
all  its  contents  were  delivered  up  to  the  rapacity  of  the  flaines  and  of  the  Bri 
tish  soldiery.  It  was  no  act  of  an  incendiary,  or  of  a  party  of  Indians  or  loy 
alists;  the.  "amiable  Cormvallis"  himself  was  present,  ordered  and  directed  it. 
Reader,  we  blush  for  human  nature  when  assigning  the  only  possible  cause 
that  can  be  alleged  for  the  perpetration  of  an  act  so  wanton. — Her  eldest  son 
was  an  active,  influential  whig,  and  she  was  mingling  her  tears  with  those  of  a 
widowed  daughter  over  the  fall  of  the  gallant  Davidson.  Think  not  that  this 
event  is  related  upon  slight  authority ;  more  could  be  told  of  the  British  com 
mander  on  this  occasion,  but  it  is  suppressed  through  delicacy  to  the  military 
profession.f 

In  the  forks  of  Abbott's  Creek  at  a  short  distance  from  Salem,  General 
Greene  selected  a  secure  position,  and  halted  to  watch  the  movements  of  his 
adversary.  The  situation  was  equally  suitable  for  the  prosecution  of  his  own 
plans,  whether  the  enemy  should  cross  above,  below,  or  at  the  trading  ford. 
But  it  answered  another  purpose;  it  drew  the  eye  of  the  enemy  towards  the 
upper  fords  of  the  Dan,  as  the  route  by  which  he  meditated  an  escape.  Corn- 
wallis,  in  his  communications  to  the  British  minister,  takes  to  himself  much 
credit  for  his  successful  manoeuvre  in  cutting  off  the  American  general  from 
that  route;  and  some  American  writers,  (even  Colonel  Lee,)  suppose,  that  the 
subsequent  movements  of  Greene  were  influenced  by  those  of  his  opponent. 


*  The  house  of  Mrs.  Brevard,  the  mother  of  the  Honourable  Joseph  Brevard. 

*  Judge  Brevard's  letter. 


422  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  which  gave  the  latter  a  position  on  the  10th,  at  the  same  distance  from  the 
,  upper  ford  with  that  of  Guilford  Court-House,  where,  by  that  day  the  Ame 
rican  detachment  had  formed  a  junction  with  the  main  army. 

The  error  has  originated  in  not  knowing,  or  not  considering  the  objects 
which  invited  the  American  commander  to  prefer  the  lower  route,  at  the  same 
time  that  it  was  necessary  to  lure  his  adversary  away  from  die  one  which  led 
to  the  upper  fords. 

To  prevent  Lord  Cornwallis  from  getting  on  his  right,  was  all-important  to 
General  Greene  for  several  reasons.  When  the  army  commenced  its  march 
from  the  Pee  Dee,' the  heavy  baggage  had  been  ordered  on,  under  a  guard  of 
militia,  to  take  the  route  by  Hillsborough,  to  unite  there  with  the  baggage 
removing  from  that  place,  and  to  pursue  the  march  across  the  Dan,  or  until 
countermanded.  As  soon  as  the  movements  of  the  enemy  indicated  an  inten 
tion  to  pass  the  Catawba,  the  necessity  of  several  material  changes  in  the 
movements  of  the  main  army  became  obvious.  The  following  rapid  letter 
addressed  to  General  Huger  on  the  1st  of  the  month,  the  original  of  which,  in 
a  beautiful  hand,  written  without  a  mistake,  interlineation,  or  the  omission  of 
a  comma,  is  before  us,  will  convey  a  full  view  of  the  change  of  movements 
contemplated,  whilst  it  presents  a  striking  specimen  of  measures  conceived 
with  promptness,  and  orders  communicated  with  precision. 

"  The  enemy  crossed  the  Catawba  this  morning  at  M'Cowen's  Ford,  about 
seventeen  miles  below  this,  a  little  after  break  of  day ;  they  burnt  a  great  num 
ber  of  their  waggons  yesterday,  and  seem  to  be  preparing  for  forced  marches. 
The  militia  is  to  assemble  at  Mr.  David  Carr's,  where  1  shall  remain  to-night. 
I  think  the  enemy  will  push  for  Salisbury;  and  from  the  rapidity  with  which 
they  march  will  reach  it  in  little  better  than  a  day,  especially  as  we  have  little 
force  to  retard  their  march.  If  you  have  crossed  the  Yadkin  and  are  in  a  con 
dition  to  force  a  march,  push  for  Salisbury.  If  not,  rccross  and  come  up  the 
other  side.  And  if  you  have  not  already  crossed  the  river,  move  up  the  east 
side  of  the  Yadkin.  To  have  the  baggage  and  stores  secured  is  the  next  great 
object  to  the  salvation  of  the  troops.  Let  them  be  sent  to  Guilford,  notwith 
standing  the  order  to  transport  it  to  the  ford  near  Salisbury.  Give  orders  to 
the  waggon-master-general,  or  commanding  officer  of  the  guard  with  the  bag 
gage  and  stores,  to  impress  all  the  horses  they  may  require  to  hasten  the  inarch. 
Let  the  officers  keep  as  little  baggage  with  them  as  possible,  as  they  may  stand 
a  great  chance  of  losing  it  upon  forced  marches.  Send  orders  to  Lee  to  move 
up  with  his  horse  and  leave  his  infantry  in  the  rear  to  follow.  Had  we  a  supe 
riority  iu  horse  the  militia  would  be  useful,  but  for  waut  of  it,  they  dare  not 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  4 

go  within  miles  of  the  enemy.     Give  orders  to  Colonel  Wade,  to  have  all  his  CHAP. 
hogs  collected  at  Rocky  River  driven  off  towards  Guilford,"  &c.  s^-v^* 

!  After  reaching  Salisbury  and  ascertaining  the  impossibility  of  forming  a 
junction  there,  or  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  in  consequence  of  the  rapidity 
of  the  enemy's  advance ;  orders  were  transmitted  to  General  linger  to  take  the 
direct  route  to  Guilford  Court-House,  with  a  view  to  forming  a  junction  at  that 
place:  as,  both  Hillsborough  and  Guilford  lay  to  the  right  or  eastward  of 
Greene's  position  on  the  Yadkin,  both  the  baggage  and  the  army  would  have 
been  greatly  exposed,  if  Cornwallis  had  directed  his  operations  to  gaining  the 
right  of  his  adversary. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  route  by  the  upper  fords  led,  not  only  to  the  depot  to 
which  the  prisoners  recently  taken  had  been  forwarded ;  but  to  that  to  which 
the  troops  captured  under  Burgoync  had  been  assigned.  As  no  enemy  had  been 
expected  in  that  quarter,  no  preparation  had  been  made  for  meeting  one,  and 
could  Cornwallis  have  penetrated  so  far  as  to  add  the  prisoners  in  the  interior 
of  Virginia  to  his  present  strength,  little  could  have  been  done  to  impede  his 
junction  with  Philips,  or  to  arrest  his  further  operations  for  the  present,  in  that 
quarter. 

A  position  on  the  lower  Dan  was  also  recommended  from  various  other 
considerations.  The  very  cause  which  the  British  commander  supposed  the 
greatest  objection  was  its  highest  recommendation;  that,  at  this  season,  the 
river  could  only  be  passed  in  boats.  It  would  have  been  gaining  little  to  have 
thrown  a  river  in  the  American  rear  that  was  fordable  by  the  enemy.  His  pas 
sage  in  boats  might  be  obstructed,  but  with  an  "overwhelming  superiority  in  regu 
lar  troops  and  artillery,  it  was  not  to  be  hoped,  that  where  the  river  was  fordable 
he  could  be  long  arrested.  Nor  was  the  route  by  the  upper  fords  the  most 
convenient  for  favouring  a  junction  with  the  reinforcements  which  were  now 
advancing.  All  those  expected  from  North  Carolina  must  come  up  the  Roan- 
oke,  and  those  to  be  looked  for  from  Virginia  must  all  approach  from  the  cast- 
ward,  and  generally  by  the  road  to  Boyd's  Ferry;  so  that  to  keep  his  enemy 
to  the  north  and  west  of  him,  without  permitting  him  to  advance  too  far, 
became  all-important  in  the  present  posture  of  his  affairs.  Of  his  moving  off 
entirely  in  that  direction  whilst  the  American  army  was  below,  General 
Greene  felt  no  apprehension;  because  the  lure  of  an  offer  of  battle  he  knew 
would  always  draw  his  adversary's  attention  the  contrary  way.  Nor  did  the 
American  general  deem  it  unimportant  to  him  to  occupy  a  position  on  naviga 
ble  water,  and  cis  near  as  possible  to  the  mouth  of  the  Staunton ;  for,  besides  the 
increased  facility  of  subsisting  his  army  by  water  transportation,  the  Staunton 


. 


424  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  ran  through  an  unexhausted  country,  and  the  rich  lands  on  that  river  and  the 

^~v-^>  Roanoke  promised  him  an  abundant  supply,  whilst  the  near  approach  of  the 

Staunton  to  the  Dan  at  Boyd's  Ferry,  which  is  near  their  confluence,  afforded 

him  a  secure  retreat,  should  the  enemy  cross  above  and  descend  on  the  eastern 

bank.     In  fact,  like  a  double  corner  in  some  games  of  skill,  this  position  once 

gained,  presented  the  means  of  effectually  eluding  the  attacks  of  his  adversary, 

or  by  obliging  him  to  divide  his  forces,  of  exposing  himself  to  great  hazard?. 

In  a  letter  to  General  Hugerof  the  date  of  the  5th,  General  Greene  expresses  a 

jiope,  "  that  from  Cornwallis'  pressing  disposition  and  the  contempt  he  has  for 

our  army,  we  may  precipitate  him  into  some  capital  misfortune." 

There  was  still  another  reason  for  this  preference  to  the  route  by  Boyd's 
Ferry.  General  Greene  was  persuaded  that  Lord  Cormvallis  could  not  follow 
him,  in  the  race  he  meant  to  lead,  very  long  before  he  would  be  obliged  to 
descend  to  the  head  of  navigation  at  Halifax,  for  the  purpose  of  replenishing 
his  stores;  and  with  a  view  to  that  event  he  had  concerted  a  plan  of  co-opera 
tion  against  him  with  Baron  Steuben,  which  might  possibly  have  put  a  speedy 
end  to  his  career.  The  original  sketch  and  all  .the  details  of  this  plan  are  at 
this  instant  before  us.  It  bears  the  strongest  features  of  the  enterprising  spirit 
and  fruitful  genius  that  devised  it.  If  further  evidence  be  necessary  to  prove 
that  the  passage  of  the  lower  Dan  was  not  a  measure  forced  upon  Gen.  Greene 
by  the  address  of  his  adversary,  it  will  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  before  his 
departure  from  the  Catawba,  he  had  pressed  on  Colonel  Carrington  the  neces 
sity  of  establishing  magazines  on  the  Roanoke,  foreseeing  and  providing  for,  a 
contingency  which  obviously  might  occur. 

Colonel  Lee  has  represented  the  adoption  of  the  route  by  the  lower  Dan.  as 
the  result  of  the  suggestion  and  advice  of  Colonel  Carrington.  Indeed,  the 
colonel  has  scarcely  ever  permitted  his  general  to  enjoy  the  reputation  of  hav 
ing  conceived  any  of  his  most  prominent  measures.  To  Colonel  Carrington, 
General  Greene  \vas  unquestionably  under  the  greatest  obligations  for  the  most 
active  and  zealous  services,  and  to  him  in  this  instance  he  was  indebted,  for 
carrying  into  effect  a  measure,  without  which  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
avoid  an  action,  after  the  hazardous  game  that  had  been  recently  carried  on. 
But  General  Greene  knew  that  Colonel  Carrington  was  to  be  depended  on,  in 
preparing  the  means'of  passing  his  army  over  the  Dan  at  Boyd's  should  he  be 
pressed  so  far;  otherwise  he  would  have  evaded  his  enemy  by  advancing  with 
rapidity,  instead  of  halting  so  frequently  at  a  small  distance  in  advance  of  him, 
as  we  have  seen  him  do  on  his  retreat  from  the  Catawba.  Had  he  by  any 
casualty  been  prevented  from  passing  the  Dan  at  Boyd's,  he  would  have  been 
driven  to  the  necessity  of  falling  down  and  uniting  with  his  main  army  at 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE,  '42, 

some  point  on  its  advance  to  Guilford,  and  of  taxing  his  invention  for  the  CHAP. 
further  means  of  eluding   his   enemy.     He  might  then  have  taken  the  rout  ^^^^ 
by   Hillsborough,  or  retraced  his  steps  to  South  Carolina,  and  left  the  road 
open  to  a  junction  with  Philips,  if  his  enemy  would  then  have  advanced,  and 
left  the  southern  army  behind  him  ;  which  is  not  probable. 

At  1  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  February,  General  Greene, 
received  intelligence  that  the  enemy  were  in  full  march  for  the  Shallowford^ 
on  the  Yadkin,  and  had  probably  reached  it  by  that  hour.  The  rout  they 
meant  to  pursue  was.  now  ascertained,  and  he  resolved  to  meet  and  fight 
them.  This  had  always  been  his  first  object  and  leading  desire,  should  he 
ever  be  placed  in  a  condition  that  would  render  it  prudent.  His  other  designs 
were  but  alternative  and  auxiliary.  He  now  hoped  to  find  his  army  in  such 
a  state,  and  to  be  joined  at  Guilford  by  such  reinforcements  of  militia,  as 
would  put  it.  in  his  power  to  meet  his  adversary  at  that  place,  on  advantageous 
terms.  He  accordingly  addressed  the  most  pressing  letters  to  the  ofiiccrs  of 
militia  in  the  vicinity  of  Guilford,  to  call  out  their  followers,  and  repair  imme 
diately  to  that  place.  Couriers  were  dispatched  to  Hillsborough,  to  forward 
on  supplies  of  ammunition  and  other  articles,  to  order  the  men  at  that  post  to 
join  their  regiments,  and  an  approaching  rencontre  was  generally  and  joyfully 
anticipated.  The  main  army  was  now  so  far  advanced,  that  a  junction  by 
the  9th  or  10th  was  certain,  and  the  exhilirating  news  had  been  received,  that 
the  prisoners,  and  the  baggage  accompanying  them,  were  in  safety. 

The  detachment  under  Morgan  was  put  in  motion  soon  after  the  intelli 
gence  of  the  enemy's  advance  was  received,  and  arrived  unmolested  that  night 
at  Guilford.  The  main  army,  now  increased  by  the  junction  of  Lee,  joined 
them  in  the  course  of  the  next  day,  and  the  general  proceeded  to  reconnoitre 
the  ground  with  a  view  to  selecting  the  field  of  battle.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  the  celebrated  position  was  fixed  on  which  directed  the  steps  of 
Greene  to  this  point  a  month  after,  when  he  found  it  advisable  to  give  the 
enemy  a  challenge  to  battle.  So  truly  did  he  exemplify  the  military  maxim, 
"  that  a  good  general  will  fight  only  when  and  uhere  he  pleases." 

But  this  was  not  the  occasion^  on  which  General  Greene  was  destined  to 
reap  the  benefit  of  this  judicious  selection.  New  mortifications  now  awaited 
him,  and  he  found  himself  obliged  at  present  to  relinquish  the  hopes  of  turning 
upon  his  enemy.  The  fallen  countenances  of  his  officers  proclaimed  their 
disappointment,  but  though  grieved,  they  acquiesced  without  a  murmur,  in  the 
prudent  resolution  of  their  commander. 

On  this  occasion  General  Greene  submitted  the  question  to  a  council  of  war, 
whether  it  would  be  prudent  to  offer  the  enemy  battle.  The  decision  was 

54 


426  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  unanimous,  and  without  hesitation,  against  the  proposition ;  and  the  reasons 
,were  such  as  could  not  have  been  resisted.  The  returns  of  the  army  are 
before  us;  die  whole  of  all  arms,  rank  and  file  fit  for  duty,  present  and 
detached,  did  not  exceed  203(3;  of  these  1426  were  regulars.  The  militia  of 
his  army  had  generally  been  discharged ;  for  Virginia  had  sent  them  into  the 
field  for  a  tour  of  three  months,  in  which  time  they  had  to  march  600  miles, 
.in  going  and  returning.  The  force  of  the  enemy  was  satisfactorily  ascertained 
to  be  from  2500  to  3000,  all  soldiers  in  the  highest  state  of  discipline  and 
equipment  Nakedness  and  exposure  had  by  this  time  sent  a  fourth  of  the 
American  army  to  the  hospitals.  In  a  letter,  addressed  to  General  linger,  of 
the  date  of  the  4th,  General  Greene  is  led  to  exclaim,  "  How  is  it  possible, 
that  an  army,  circumstanced  as  our's  is,  can  make  head  against  one  organized 
and  equipped  as  Lord  CormvalhV!  Is  it  possible  to  guard  against  every  mis 
fortune  with  a  force  so  inferior?  If  Lord  Cornwallis  knows  his  true  interest, 
Jbe  will  pursue  our  army.  If  he  can  disperse  that,  he  completes  the  reduction 
of  this  state,  and  without  that,  he  will  do  nothing  to  effect." 

Yet,  with  these  correct  views  of  the  relative  interests  of  the  contending 
parties,  there  is  no  doubt  of  his  intention  to  offer  battle  on  the  junction  of  his 
forces,  could  he  have  drawn  together  about  12  or  1500  militia.  In  various 
letters  he  expressly  avows  it;  but,  to  offer  battle,  with  such  precaution  as  to 
prevent  the  possibility  of  his  being  driven  from  the  field,  it  may  well  be 
doubted,  whether  the  most  prudential  measures  can  always  prevent  dispersion 
from  following  in  the  train  of  defeat.  This  point  was  frequently  made  a 
subject  of  discussion  among  his  officers ;  and,  on  such  occasions,  he  always 
expressed  a  perfect  confidence  in  its  practicability,  with  the  advantage  of  a 
superior  cavalry.  He  repeatedly  exemplified  the  correctness  of  this  opinion,. 
in  the  events  of  his  southern  campaigns. 

Yet,  there  were  several  reasons  at  this  time  which  inclined  the  American 
commander  to  offer  his  adversary  battle.  The  first  was,  that  he  believed  him 
so  anxious  for  it,  as  to  be  inclined  to  accept  the  offer,  under  any  disadvantages; 
the  second,  that  he  dreaded  the  effect  of  a  protracted  retreat,  as  well  in 
depressing  the  spirits  of  the  whigs,  as  in  elevating  those  of  their  antagonists. 
The  British  commander  had  now  penetrated  into  a  country,  which  by  him 
had  always  been  looked  forward  to  as  the  land  of  promise.  The  immediate 
settlements  through  which  he  had  passed,  were  well-effected  to  the  American 
cause;  but,  this  circumstance  was  the  most  favourable  possible  to  his  views, 
since  both  in  front  and  rear  lay  the  regions  where  the  loyalists  were  numerous. 
The  spirit  of  enterprise  of  the  former,  was  repressed  by  his  presence,  whilst 
his  army  offered  a  rajlying  point  to  tke  latter,  with  the  triumphs  and  comforts 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  *V 

*f  living  at  free  quarters  on  the  farnls  of  the  whigs.  General  Greene  had  just  CHAP. 
cause  to  fear,  that  the  enemy's  further  advance  would  lead  to  a  general  insur-  ^^^^ 
rection  of  the  friends  of  royalty ;  an  event,  from  which  every  thing  was  to  be 
dreaded  ;  and  an  event,  which  would  probably  have  been  realized,  but  for  two 
incidents  (hereafter  to  be  related)  which  combined  most  fortuitously  to  terrify 
and  disgust  the  royal  party.  To  these  considerations  was  added  another, 
minor  in  its  nature,  but  by  no  means  to  be  disregarded.  General  Greene  was 
of  opinion,  that  in  time  of  action,  the  enemy  were  in  the  habit  of  wasting  a 
great  deal  of  ammunition  to  very  little  effect.  They  were  now  drawn  on  to 
a  situation  where  this  article  could  only  be  procured  by  descending  to  his 
depot  at  Wilmington,  establishing  himself  at  Halifax,  or  forcing  his  way, 
through  Virginia  at  all  hazards.  All  these  considerations  will  be  found  to  be 

O  *— * 

held  in  view  during  the  residue  of  the  trial  of  skill  between  these  two  com 
manders.  There  was  also  another,  and  this  is  feelingly  expressed  in  a  letter 
to  Steuben.  It  was  to  savo  the  state,  and  particularly  Mecklenberg  and  Roan, 
from  the  desolating  vengeance  of  the  enemy.  The  light  of  burning  cottages 
had  marked  the  stages  of  his  advance,  and  the  distress  and  consternation  of 
the  fugitives  added  pangs  to  Green's  consciousness,  that  he  could  neither  relieve 
nor  protect  them.  1 

As  soon  as  the  resolution  was  adopted  to  prosecute  the  retreat,  the  com 
manding  general  was  not  long  in  determining  on  the  means  of  effecting  itv 
Attention  had,  at  an  early  period,  been  paid  10  raising  the  militia  in  the  rear  of 
the  enemy,  in  order  to  give  employ  to  his  light  troops,  to  intercept  his  foraging 
parties,  and  embarrass  the  acquirement  and  communication  of  intelligence. 
Colonel  Sumpter  also,  whose  health  now  permitted  his  return  to  the  field,  had 
undertaken  to  call  together  his  followers,  and  excite  the  apprehension  of  the 
enemy  for  his  posts  in  South  Carolina.  The  fall  of  Davidson,  and  the  office 
which  Davie  had  assumed,  had  left  the  whigs  in  the  neighborhood  of  Char- 

CJ  w> 

lotte,  without  a  leader  sufficiently  popular  to  inspirit  and  conduct  them  to 
active  enterprise.  They,  therefore,  held  a  meeting,  and  unanimously  solicited 
of  General  Greene,  to  dispatch  Morgan  to  command  them.  The  general's 
answer  to  this  request  has  been  already  noticed.  But,  another  officer  had 
now  rejoined  Greene,  in  whom  he  justly  reposed  the  highest  confidence. 
This  was  Colonel  Pickens,  who  had  proceeded  in  command  of  the  detachment 
that  guarded  the  prisoners  taken  at  the  Cowpcns,  until  overtaken  and  relieved 
by  General  Stevens.  He  then  hastened  immediately  back,  and  rejoined  his 
commander  at  Salisbury. 

His  followers  were  now  reduced  to  a  handful,  for  the  retreat  of  the  army 
ha.d  called  most  of  them  away,  to  provide  for  the  subsistence  and  safety  of 


- 


428  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  their  families;  Some  active,  intelligent  and  influential  officers-  remained, 
and  many  of  these  he  was  directed  to  disperse  through  die  country  beyond 
the  Catawba,  with  orders  to  collect  the  whigs  in  parties,  to  keep  the  tories  in 
awe,  and  to  throw  themselves  under  the  command  of  the  principal  leaders, 
whenever  their  assistance  was  required  to  strike  some  capital  blow.  The 
whigs  of  North  Carolina  were  advised  to  place  themselves  under  Pickens' 
command,  and  he  was  instructed  to  hang  upon  the  skirts  of  the  enemy,  watch 
the  movements  of  his  small  detachments,  guard  particularly  against  surprise, 
and,  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  offered,  to  pass  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  join  die 
army  at  Guilford,  or  wherever  else  it  should  make  a  stand. 

Great  were  the  advantages  which  Greene  derived  at  this  time,  from  these 
watchful  and  active  agents.  The  only  means  he  had  of  retarding  the 
progress  of  the  enemy,  and  preserving  himself  from  being  harrassed  by  the 
loyal  mounted  infantry,  consisted  in  obliging  his  enemy  to  cover  his  foraging 
parties  with  large  detachments  of  cavalry.  Without  the  protection  of  the 
cavalry,  the  infantry  could  not  be  pushed  forward  to  annoy  Morgan.  But. 
for  this  relief,  it  would  have  been  difficult  for  him  to  preserve  such  a  distance 
in  advance,  as  to  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  his  adversary  to  control  his 
^measures.  He  was  himself  often  obliged  to  subsist  his  army  on  daily  collec 
tions,  and  this  necessarily  produced  delay.  To  have  collected  magazines  on 
his  intended  rout,  would  at  once  have  unmasked  his  views  towards  the  corner 
between  the  Dan  and  the  Staumon:  nor  had  the  newly  adopted  arrangements 
of  die  state,  for  assisting  Colonel  Davie  in  his  department,  been  long  enough 
organized  to  be  productive  of  very  extensive  relief. 

•  But,  the  situation  of  the  army  was  much  improved  upon  its  junction  at 
Guilford,  by  the  arrival  of  both  the  commissary  and  quarter-master-general; 
and  now,  for  the  first  time  since  taking  the  command,  the  commander  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  an  organized  force;  yet  it  was  feeble,  destitute  and 
pennylcss,  and  talents  that  merited  a  freer  range  of  action,  were  wasted  upon 
shifts  and  expedients.  Neither  the  quarter-master,  the  commissary,  nor  their 
commander,  had  a  dollar  at  command;  and  when  most  in  need  of  conciliating 
the  favour  of  the  people,  they  were  compelled  to  disgust  them,  by  supporting 
and  transporting  every  thing  by  exaction.  It  required  more  than  ordinary 
capacity,  perseverance  and  prudence,  to  make  head  against  such  difficulties. 

Among  the  causes  which  led  to  the  decision  of  the  council  of  war  at  Guil 
ford,  was  the  arrival  of  Carrington,  with  the  agreeable  intelligence,  that  every 
thing  was  in  a  state  of  arrangement  for  the  passage  of  the  army  below.  The 
boats  were  not  actually  collected  at  the  point  of  transportation,  for  that  also 
\vould  have  unmasked  the  general's  designs ;  but  they  were  secured  at  conve- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  429 

uicnt  distances,  so  as  to  admit  of  their  being  collected  at  a  few  hours  warning.  CHAP. 
But  for  this  circumstance,  Greene's  situation  would  have  been  such,  that  he 
might  have  been  compelled  to  fight  the  enemy,  at  this  time,  at  Guilford,  or 
turn  on  him  under  every  disadvantage,  when  pressed  in  the  pursuit.  It  is 
probably  owing  to  this  circumstance,  that  General  Lee  has  attributed  the 
march  of  Greene  for  the  lower  Dan,  in  preference  to  the  Ford,  to  the  recom 
mendation  of  Carriugton.  As  Colonel  Lee  was  not  a  member  of  the  council 
of  war,  he  might  easily  be  led  into  the  error  of  attributing  that  to  Carrington's. 
advice,  which  was  only  attributable  to  the  quarter-master's  report.  But  the 
fact  of  Colonel  Carrington's  continuing  with  the  army,  and  actually  com 
manding  the  left  of  Williams'  detachment,  ought  to  have  satisfied  Colonel 
Lee,  that  this  important  arrangement  had  been  previously  organized. 

The  capital  expedient  resorted  to  on  this  occasion,  to  secure  the  unmolested 
retreat  of  the  American  army,  was  that  of  detaching  seven  hundred  light 
troops,  under  Colonel  Williams,  to  cover  its  retreat.  Both  officers  and  men 
of  this  detachment,  were  of  the  elite  of  the  American  army.  Williams,  Car- 
rington,  Howard,  Washington  and  Lee,  were  the  commanders,  and  the  men 
were  composed  of  all  who  had  fought  the  day  of  the  Cowpens,  and  who  had 
ever  since  led  and  baffled  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  strengthened  by  Lee's 
legion,  whose  ranks  had  not  yet  been  thinned  by  battle  or  severe  service,  and 
whose  excellent  equipment,  discipline  and  mounting,  made  them  an  important 
appendage  to  Williams'  command. 

On  the  10th  of  the  month,  the  two  armies  lay  within  twenty-five  miles  of 
each  other;  the  one  at  Salem,  the  other  at  Guilford.  The  halt  which  Lord 
Cornwallis  made  at  Salem,  was  the  first  that  could  be  satisfactorily  accounted 
for.  His  antagonist  had  now  formed  a  junction  with  his  main  army,  and 
prudence  dictated  the  necessity  of  determining  their  force,  and  their  views, 
before  he  approached  within  striking  distance.  It  is  true,  that  in  the  end,  this 
halt  proved  destructive  to  his  views,  and  the  state  of  facts  would  have  justified 
his  advancing  and  forcing  an  action;  but,  whatever  might  be  the  conse 
quences  attending  such  a  precaution,  he  cannot  be  censured  for  adopting  it. 
Indeed,  from  this  time,  all  his  conduct  was  marked  with  decision  and  vigour, 
checked  only  by  the  control  of  military  prudence.  It  is  true,  the  measures  of 
his  adversary  were  crowned  with  the  most  signal  success;  but,  the  errors 
which  contributed  to  it,  if  committed  at  all,  preceded  this  date,  or  occurred 
some  time  after. 

Never  since  the  descent  of  Burgoyne,  had  the  feelings  of  the  American 
people  been  so  wrought  up  as  they  were  on  this  occasion.  The  whole  con 
tinent  seemed  to  hang  in  breathless  expectation  upon  the  fate  of  the  southern 


430  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

army.  For  near  a  month,  had  the  public  attention  been  engrossed  by  its 
perilous  situation ;  and  now  the  crisis  of  this  interesting  drama  evidently 
approached.  A  day,  an  hour,  might  produce  its  dissolution ;  and  then,  what 
would  arrest  the  progress  of  subjugation?  A  junction  formed  wilh  Philips — 
the  prisoners  in  Virginia  released — Richmond  fortified — and  posts  established  at 
Hillsborough  and  Halifax;  and  adieu,  at  present,  to  opposition  in  the  south. 
Nor  was  the  interest  of  the  scene  confined  to  the  people  of  America ;  Great 
Britain,  France,  the  world,  which  had  now  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the 
pending  contest,  all  saw  the  consequences  that  might  follow  the  struggle 
between  these  little  armies,  and  waited  with  anxious  anticipation  upon  its 
issue.  It  is  true,  their  numbers  were  not  great;  nay,  exceedingly  incon 
siderable,  when  compared  with  the  armies  that  figure  on  the  theatre  of 
Europe.  But,  what  are  the  European  struggles  for  some  norma  agclli,  or 
some  question  of  succession,  legitimacy  or  revenue,  in  comparison  with  the 
stake  for  which  these  little  armies  contended  ?  Parties  had  also  taken  their 
champions;  the  amateurs  of  the  military  science,  had  conceived  an  interest  iri 
the  issue;  and  a  vast  deal  of  individual  anxiety  prevailed  on  questions,  only 
remotely  connected  with  national  considerations. 

The  occasion  was,  indeed,  one  which  called  for  all  the  talent  of  these  two 
eminent  commanders.  Every  thing  depended  upon  gaining  a  march;  and 
the  trial  of  skill  was,  to  give  a  direction  to  the  movements,  each  of  the  other, 
without  letting  a  muscle  betray  die  direction  of  his  own.  Spies,  Vouts  and 
patrols  were  lurking  about  both,  intent  upon  the  minutest  movement,  and 
sleep  seldom  visited  the  eyes  of  either  commander. 

The  first  movement  was,  a  nise  dc  guerre,  attempted  by  Lord  Cornwallis. 
The  object  of  this  was,  to  alarm  his  adversary  for  the  safety  of  his  stores  at 
Hillsborough;  these,  notwithstanding  the -earliest  attention  to  their  removal, 
had  been  so  delayed,  for  want  of  waggons,  that  they  were,  most  of  them,  just 
now  put  in  motion  for  Taylor's  ferry  on  the  Roanoke,  below  the  confluence  of 
the  Dan  and  Staunton.  Hillsborough  also,  as  the  seat  of  government,  and 
depository  of  the  state  stores  and  records,  it  was  thought,  would  claim  the 
protection  of  the  American  army.  Its  situation  was  to  the  right  of  the  road  to 
Guilford,  and  accessible  by  a  direct  rout  from  Salem.  On  that  rout,  Lord 
Cornwallis  made  a  demonstration;  for  if  Greene  lost  ground  in  that  direction, 
he  would  certainly  be  cut  off  from  the  banks  of  the  Dan.  But  the  American 
general  was  too  much  on  his  guard  to  be  overreached,  and  adroitly  turned 
the  point  of  his  enemy  against  himself.  By  pushing  forward  the  detachment 
under  Williams,  in  the  direct  rout  for  the  upper  Dan,  he  induced  his  adversary 
to  make  a  movement  to  his  left,  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  this  party  off  from 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  431 

the  upper  fords,  still  fondly  believing  that  he  had  the  main  army  in  a  tul  de  CHAP. 
sac,  from  which  it  could  not  escape,   for  want  of  ferry  boats.     Williams  was  v^r-v^, 
so  lightly  equipped,  that  he  had  nothing  to  fear  from  a  near  approach  to  the 
enemy,  and  coolly  placing  himself  in  front  of  his  advance,  marched  as  steadily 
before  him  for  four  days,  as  if  he  had  been  the  enemy's  advanced  guard. 
Greene  thus  secured  the  advantage  of  marching  direct  for  the  place  where  he 
contemplated  crossing;  whilst  his  enemy  approached  it  by  a  more  circuitous 
rout.     His  own  march,  also,  was  unmolested ;  whilst  in  the  rout  of  the  enemy, 
every  bridge  was  broken  up,  the  provision  consumed  or  removed,  and  every 
facility  to  his.  progress,  swept  away  by  his  tantalizing  precursor. 

Williams  displayed  the  most  consummate  prudence,  vigilance  and  enter 
prise  in  this  service ;  he  wras  ably  and  zealously  supported  by  the  officers  under 
him;  and  notwithstanding  the  extraordinary  fatigue  to  which  this  service 
subjected  his  men,  his  engaging  manners,  and  humane  attention  to  their  wants 
and  comforts,  kept  up  among  them  the  highest  spirits  possible. 
'  Colonel  Lee  has  written,  and  others  have  copied  from  him,  a  highly  inte 
resting  narrative  of  the  march  of  this  party,  interspersed  with  anecdotes,  and 
illuminated  with  remarks,  which  render  it  an  exceedingly  amusing  passage, 
But  the  general  nature  of  our  undertaking,  does  not  admit  of  our  borrowing 
from  it,  any  thing  to  which  there  is  no  allusion  in  the  official  papers. 

From  the  moment  of  leaving  Guilford,  all  further  disguise  became  unneces 
sary  or  impracticable,  and  the  American  general  pursued  the  direct  rout  to  the 
lower  D  t!i.  In  th»>  mean  time,  a  proper  party  was  pushed  forward  to  collect 
the  boats,  and  \vith  tliem  General  Kosciusko,  who  had  rejoined  his  com 
mander  at  Guilford,  and  who  now  preceded  him  for  the  purpose  of  throwing 
up  a  breastwork  at  the  ferry,  for  the  double  object  of  protecting  the  boats,  and 
covering  the  passage  of  the  army. 

So  completely  did  the  light  detachment  hoodwink  the  enemy,  that  it  is  an 
acknowledged  fact,  they  did  not  know  of  Greene's  reaching  the  river  until 
they  approached  its  banks,  and  sa\v  the  last  of  the  covering  party  landing  on 
the  opposite  shore.  This  was  on  the  15th  of  the  month.  The  main  army 
had  reached  the  ferry  the  morning  of  the  day  before,  and  intelligence  being 
immediately  dispatched  to  Williams,  he  adopted  the  necessary  measures  for 
eluding  his  wary  enemy,  and  making  good  his  escape,  before  his  intention 
should  be  suspected.  For  this  purpose,  after  taking  ground  in  the  evening, 
and  encamping  as  usual,  leaving  all  his  fires  burning,  he  stole  silently  away, 
and  by  a  rapid  movement  reached  the  ferry,  and  crossed  before  his  purpose 
'was  suspected. 


432  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

This  retreat  was  not  only  the  admiration  of  the  friends  of  the  revolution,  at 
time — it  has  called  forth  the  most  unqualified  praises  from  every  British 
writer.  Indeed,  it  is  remarkable  that,  not  only  in  this,  but  in  every  previous 
and  most  subsequent  affairs  in  which  General  Greene  was  engaged,  and  in 
none  but  those  which  happened  under  his  command,  has  an  eulogium  been 
uttered  by  the  British  writers.  Success,  under  most  other  commanders,  has 
been  attributed  to  some  fortuitous  cause;  but,  whether  he  had  conciliated 
their  esteem,  or  from  what  other  cause,  we  know  not,  they  have  not  been 
sparing  of  the  commendation  bestowed  upon  him. 

Amid  the  general  exultation,  and  the  mutual  felicitations  which  enlivened 
the  American  camp,  on  the  evening  of  the  loth,  there  was  found  one  heavy 
heart;  and  when  the  shades  of  night  had  summoned  the  weary  veteran  to 
repose,  there  was  found  one  watchful  eye,  that  consumed  the  midnight  lamp 
in  cares  for  their  security.  There  is  in  many  of  the  numerous  official  letters, 
written  on  this  evening,  a  marked  character  of  constraint,  mingled  with 
occasional  bursts  of  indignant  feeling,  or  of  complaint,  tempered  by  respect, 
which  strongly  pourtray  the  varied  workings  of  the  mind  that  dictated  them. 

Nor  could  it  have  been  otherwise;  for,  though  the  army  was  saved,  and 
with  it  the  last  hope. of  a  successful  issue  to  the  campaign,  yet  another  state 
was  given  up  to  the  ravages  of  the  enemy;  and  if  this  Fabian  system  had 
exposed  even  Washington's  courage  and  talents  to  suspicion,  what  right  had 
Greene  to  hope  to  escape  the  ready  tongue,  and  wakeful  eye  of  censure? 
There  was  yet  a  more  mortifying  reflection,  pressing  on  the  mind  of  the  Ame 
rican  commander.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  the  Baron  Steubcn,  borrowing 
the  words  attributed  to  the  great  Frederick,  he  exclaims,  "Oh  that  of  the  many 
thousands  now  idle  at  home,  a  few,  a  very  few  hundreds  more  were  with  me 
in  the  field!"  His  adversary  was  now  obviously  in  his  power.  He  had  led 
him  to  the  very  spot  where  he  hoped,  at  the  farthest,  to  be  met  by  reinforce 
ments,  and  to  be  able  to  turn  upon  and  destroy  him ;  but,  not  a  man  was 
there;  even  the  numbers  which  he  counted  but  a  few  days  before,  had  been 
greatly  reduced.  The  volunteers  would  not  wander  far  from  their  homes; 
some  few,  who  had  no  homes,  remained  with  him.  The  militia,  called  into 
the  field  for  a  short  period,  had  served  their  tour  and  retired ;  and  even  the 
continentals,  not  enlisted  for  the  war,  were  claiming  their  discharges  as  fast  as 
their  term  of  service  expired. 

But,  relief  grew  out  of  his  very  misfortunes.  The  states  of  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia  now  saw  the  flames  of  war  rolling  towards  their  dwellings. 
Reiterated  remonstrances  had  effected  little;  the  approach  of  the  hostile  army 
produced  much.  Intelligence  poured  in  from  all  quarters,  of  the  approach  of 


•      .  .  .     . 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  433 

the  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  militia,  and  Steuben  was  hurrying  on,  a  body  CHAP 
of  recruits  for  the  Virginia  regiments ;  yet,  they  were  generally  far  distant,  and  ^,^~c> 
days  and  weeks  must  elapse,  before  they  could  be  marched  to  head  quarters. 
Now  was  the  time  for  action;  a  few  days  more  and  their  arrival  might  be  too 
late.  For  the  third  time,  the  enemy  was  separated  from  the  American  general 
only  by  a  river.  It  might  fall,  and  he  might  be  attacked;  or  the  enemy  might 
retire,  and  evade  the  present  danger.  To  a  mind  conscious  of  its  own 
powers — to  a  heart  glowing  with  love  of  country; — to  a  soldier  emulous  of 
military  fame — to  a  conimander,  high  in  reputation,  and  conspicuous  in  the 
part  allotted  him,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  a  situation  more  tantalizing  and 
perplexing. 

The  morning  of  the  16th  dawned  upon  an  anxious  night,  only  to  add  to  the 
general's  perplexities.  It  was  announced,  that  the  river  was  falling;  and  as 
the  crossing  places  in  his  vicinity  were  too  numerous  to  admit  a  hope  of 
successful  opposition  to  a  superior  enemy,  a  retreat  appeared  unavoidable : 
the  army  was  therefore  put  under  orders  to  be  ready  to  act  at  a  moment's 
warning.  The  baggage  had  already  been  ordered  on  the  rout  to  Halifax  old 
court  house,  and  the  necessary  orders  issued  to  the  quarter-master's  department, 
to  make  good  the  passage  of  Staunton  river  with  the  whole  army,  should 
such  a  movement  become  necessary.  These  arrangements  made,  the  two  ar 
mies  rested  in  tranquilky,  watching  each  others  motions.  As  "the  rise  and  fall 
of  these  rivers  are  subject  to  great  vicissitudes,  and  there  was  still  a  considerable 
depth  of  water,  the  necessity  of  a  movement,  on  the  part  of  the  American 
commander,  had  not  yet  become  imperative.  A  change  of  circumstances,  on 
the  following  day,  induced  him  to  give  a  new  direction  to  his  motions. 

Pickeus  had  succeeded  in  raising  a  force  of  about  seven  hundred  militia. 
and  was  approaching  the  enemy's  left.  General  Caswell,  of  North  Carolina, 
had  also  collected  a  force  below,  and  made  a  demonstration  towards  his  other 
flank.  The  depredations  committed  by  the  enemy  in  his  advance,  had  sur 
rounded  him  with  inveterate  enemies,  and  he  saw  nothing  but  hostility  in  his 
vicinity,  which  ever  way  he  directed  his  views.  These  considerations  soon 
convinced  the  British  general,  that  he  must  direct  his  march  to  some  more 
friendly  quarter,  whilst  the  exhausted  state  of  his  stores  made  it  advisable  to 
'approach  one,  from  which  relief  might  be  obtained  from  the  privations  to 
which  he  had  subjected  his  officers  and  soldiers. 

Hillsborough  was  in  the  direct  rout  to  Wilmington,  and  situate  in  a  region 
known  to  abound  in  loyalists,  as  well  as  near  the  settlements  betueen  the  lla\v 
and  Deep  rivers,  in  which  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  were  reputed  to  be 
jfirwly  and  irrcclaimably  attached  to  the  royal  cause.  Thither  he  directed  liis 

55 


• 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

steps,  and  on  the  18th  left  General  Greene  at  liberty  to  resume  offensive 
operations.  These  were  delayed  no  longer  than  was  necessary  to  guard 
against  a  feint. 

Many  reasons  imposed  upon  General  Greene  the  necessity  of  still  occupy 
ing  the  east  bank  of  the  Dan,  with  his  army  posted  partly  at  the  river,  and 
partly  at  Halifax  old  court  house  on  the  Banister.  The  first  moments  of  rest 
that  had  been  enjoyed,  had  been  employed  in  the  most  pressing  instances  to 
all  on  whom  the  duty  devolved,  or  in  whom  power  existed,  to  press  forward 
reinforcements  at  this  critical  juncture.  None  had  .yet  arrived,  but  many 
parties  were  in  motion,  and  all  their  steps  were  pointed  towards  this  post. 
It  was  not  among  the  least  considerations  that  had  directed  his  own  march 
towards  this  position,  that  it  was  above  all  others  peculiarly  eligible  as  a  point 
of  concentration.  The  whole  southern  border  of  Virginia,  will  not  furnish 
one  better  suited  for  collecting  to  a  point,  the  population  of  that  state;  and 
it  was  little  less  proper,  under  present  circumstances,  for  drawing  together 
that  of  North  Carolina  and  facilitating  the  advance  of  the  mountain  men 
who  were  expected  under  Shelby  and  Campbell.  By  crossing  the  Dan 
above,  or  the  Roanoke  below,  the  militia  might  follow  the  east  bank  of  those 
rivers  to  Greene's  encampment,  in  great  security,  from  the  interruptions  of  the 
enemy.  Nor  would  his  apprehensions  for  the  post  of  Halifax,  in  North 
Carolina,  yet  permit  him  to  abandon  a  situation,  which  would  enable  him  to 
hasten,  if  necessary,  to  the  protection  of  that  place.  General  Kosciusko  had 
already  been  dispatched  to  construct  works  for  its  defence,  and  Greene  was 
steadily  resolved  not  to  permit  the  enemy  to  possess  it  without  a  struggle.  Being 
acces.sibl j  from  the  ocean,  having  a  very  fertile  country  above  it,  possessing 
the  only  manufactories  in  the  state,  and  conveniently  situated  to  communicate 
with  the  waters  of  the  Chesapeake,  it  afforded  too  many  military  advantages 
to  his  enemy  to  be  neglected.  It  was  not,  therefore,  until  he  was  well  satisfied 
that  the  views  of  Lord  Cornvvallis  were  not  directed  to  that  post,  that  he 
recrossed  the  Dan,  and  advanced  with  the  main  army  towards  Hillsborough. 

There  was  still  another  urgent  reason  for  hesitating  at  resuming  active 
operations  with  the  main  army.  It  was  the  depth  of  winter,  and  the  climate 
cold  beyond  the  gradation  of  its  latitude.  It  is  affected  by  the  elevation  of  the 
earth's  surface,  and  the  vicinity  of  the  Alleghany  mountains.  Long  marches, 
thin  clothing,  and  much  exposure,  had  greatly  thinned  his  ranks,  and  the  state 
.of  his  best  clad  men,  was  but  ill  adapted  to  the  prosecution  of  a  winter  cam 
paigns.  The  returns  of  the  Maryland  line,  that  body  of  men  to  whose 
gallantry  the  country  was  so  much  indebted,  and  whose  fidelity  had  risen 
superior  to  suffering  and  temptation,  exhibited  861  fit  for  duty,  274  in  .the 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  435 

bospitak.     In  a  letter  from  one  of  his  officers,  who  had  been  employed  in  CHAP. 
guarding  and  removing  the  heavy  baggage,  we  find  a  complaint,  "  that  as 
men  were  generally  bare  foot,  long  marches  had,  at  length,  incapacitated  them 
from  marching  at  all;"  and  the  following  passage  of  a  letter,  from  Greene  to 
Wasliington,   exhibits  an  original  picture  of  the  sufferings  of  the  main  army  : 

"  IRVINE'S  FERRY*,  February  15. 

"The  miserable  situation  of  the  troops,  for  want  of  clothing,  has  rendered 
the  march  the  most  painful  imaginable  ;  many  hundreds  of  the  soldiers 
tracking  the  ground  with  their  bloody  feet.  Your  feelings  for  the  sufferings  of 
the  soldier,  had  you  been  with  us,  would  have  been  severely  tried." 

Nor  would  the  effective  force  of  the  army,  at  that  time,  sanction  a  hasty 
pursuit.  Sending  off,  and  guarding  the  many  detachments  of  baggage,  stores 
prisoners,  sick,  &,c.  had  necessarily  drawn  off  a  number  of  men  on  detached 
commands.  The  militia,  alone,  could  not  be  depended  upon  for  this  service, 
as  they  came  and  went  almost  as  they  pleased.  Hence,  a  small  guard  of 
regulars  became  indispensable ;  and,  where  an  auxiliary  militia  force  was  called 
out,  it  was  relieved  at  different  stages,  according  to  the  necessity  of  circum 
stances.  On  the  17th  of  this  month,  there  were  no  less  than  34-5  of  the 
Maryland  line  thus  employed ;  and,  on  that  day,  every  man  in  camp,  fit  for 
duty,  is  stated  at,  infantry,  1078 — artillery,  64 — cavalry,  176 — legionary 
infantry,  112.  The  militia  had  all  departed,  with  the  exception  only,  of  the 
gallant  little  band  under  Pickens,  who  alone,  in  the  worst  of  times,  never 
abandoned  the  retreating  army:  but,  at  this  time,  they  were  detached  under 
their  leader,  on  the  service  which  has  been  already  noticed.  Their  numbers, 
then,  were  reduced  to  about  150,  consisting  altogether  of  volunteers  from 
•  South  Carolina  and  Georgia — the  former  under  Colonel  M'Call — the  latter 
under  a  youthful  leader  of  the  highest  promise,  and  who  was  destined 
to  attain  to  the  highest  distinction  in  the  councils  of  his  country — this  was  the 
late  General  Jackson  of  Georgia,  at  that  time  a  captain  of  militia.  Most  of 
the  officers  and  men  from  the  two  southern  states  who  had  fought  at  the 
Cowpens,  had  been  previously  detached  under  the  orders  issued  to  Pickens, 
to  diperse  themselves  through  the  interior  of  those  two  states,  in  order  to  keep 
alive  the  opposition  in  that  quarter. 


*  Irvine's  and   BoycPs  ferry,  appear  to  be  the  same,  by  different  name?,  or  within  a  very  short 
Distance  of  each  other. 


436  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Although  no  reinforcements  had  yet  reached  the  American  army,  the  riio$t 
s^v-^/  flattering  promises  no\v  poured  in  from  every  side.  The  advance  of  the 
British  army  to  the  banks  of  the  Dan,  had  spread  universal  alarm  through 
the  two  states  that  lie  along  the  waters  of  the  Roanoke.  A  busy  bustling 
•scene  was  now  exhibited  in  all  directions.  The  cry  *'  to  arms,"  was  universal ; 
the  people  really  manifested  the  best  dispositions  possible;  and  they  were 
numerous  as  the  locusts  of  the  desert;  a  swarm  of  them  might  have  swept 
the  British  army  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  But  the  demon  of  confusion 
appeared  to  preside  over  every  movement ;  and  men  without  organization 
only  derive  weakness  from  multitude.  Portentous,  as  was  the  aspect  of 
public  affairs  at  this  time,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  peruse  the  correspondence 
it  produced,  without  yielding  to  an  irresistable  impulse  to  be  amused.  One 
officer  collects  a  considerable  force,  and  is  ready  to  march  to  the  Dan,  when 
the  legislature  of  North  Carolina  orders  him  to  take  the  contrary  course, 
and  sit  down  near  Wilmington.  Another,  is  prepeared  and  anxious  to 
inarch  immediately,  but  waits  the  order  of  the  major  general,  and  knows- 
not  where  to  find  him.  A  third,  very  high  in  command,  excuses  himself 
from  attending  to  the  forwarding  of  troops,  because  he  is  a  member  of  the 
governor's  council,  and  has  been  summoned  to  attend  him  an  hundred  miles 
off.  A  fourth,  is  on  the  march  to  join  the  American  commander,  and  is 
ordered  to  take  post  at  Eaton's  Ferry  and  wait  further  orders.  In  Vir 
ginia,  the  people  fly  to  arms,  are  willing  to  act  as  volunteers,  but  the 
county  lieutenants  dismiss  them  to  their  homes,  because  not  called  out 
according  to  law;  and  when  the  enemy  is  at  their  doors,  insist  on  the 
necessity  of  awaiting  an  order  from  Richmond.  Thus,  in  every  quarter, 
under  the  most  critical  circumstances,  when  present  relief  appeared  indis 
pensable  to  ward  off  present  destruction,  were  reinforcements  detained, 
merely  because  the  American  general  could  not  himself  command  them 
out,  but  must  depend  upon  the  good  will,  dilligence,  or  the  intelligence  of 
others  to  afford  them.  A  wakeful  jealousy  of  arbitrary  power,  is  unques 
tionably  salutary;  but  where  the  slow  course  of  legal  process  must  be 
observed  in  attempts  to  arrest  the  desolating  flame,  the  best  of  principles 
may  be  adhered  to,  to  the  most  unhappy  of  purposes. 

Nor  was  the  American  commander  doomed  only  to  sustain  these  mor 
tifications,  from  the  delays  incident  to  the  measures  of  the  state  authorities : 
he  was  also  subjected  to  a  disappointment  of  the  most  serious  nature,  from- 
a  quarter  whence  he  had  least  reason  to  expect  it. 

The  party  under  General  Arnold,  intended  to  produce  a  diversion  in  favour 
of  Lord  Corn wallis,  and  as  the  precursor  of  the  expedition  under  General 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  '43 

Philips,  arrived  in  the  Chesapeake  at  the  close  of  the  year  1780.  Expe-  CHAP. 
rience  has  taught,  what  reflection  might  have  suggested,  that  the  places  >^VU 
situate  on  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Chesapeake,  derive  very  little  security 
from  their  remoteness  in  the  interior.  An  enemy  who  can  command  the 
bay,  can  operate  with  safety  and  effect,  against  the  towns  which  are  ac 
cessible  to  vessels  offeree,  or  not  too  far  distant  for  a  coup  de  main.  Arnold, 
it  has  been  seen,  met  with  no  opposition  in  penetrating  to  Richmond,  and 
retired  with  little  molestation.  The  rapidity  of  his  movements,  crowned 
them  with  a  cheap-purchased  success.  Having  seized  upon,  and  fortified 
the  post  at  Portsmouth,  he  retired  securely  from  his  devastating  expedition, 
and  placed  himself  in  it  with  a  force  of  about  1700  men.  In  the  meantime, 
the  Baron  Steuben  had  collected  together  as  many  continental  troops, 
and  militia  under  Generals  Weeden  and  Muhlenberg,  as  rendered  it  no 
longer  safe  for  Arnold  to  venture  out  of  his  strong  hold.  Here  they  lay 
for  some  time  watching  each  others  motions,  the  one  occasionally  pro 
secuting  his  predatory  expeditions  along  the  shores  of  the  rivers,  the  other 
manoeuvring  to  decoy  the  wary  traitor  from  his  lurking  place.  Why,  more 
efficient  operations  were  not  carried  on  to  compel  him  to  retire  or  surrender, 
is  thus  accounted  for  in  a  letter  from  General  Muhlenberg  to  General  Greene: 

"  February  24,  1781. 

"I  must  acknowledge  it  is  derogatory  to  the  honor  of  the  state,  to  suiTer 
such  a  handful  of  men  to  retain  possession  so  long,  (now  six  weeks)  but 
what  my  dear  general  is  to  be  done  ?  They  are  strongly  fortified ;  I  have 
near  two  thousand  men,  and  among  the  whole  about  oOO  bayonets,  and 
two  brass  six  pounders.  With  such  a  military  apparatus,  we  cannot  think 
of  attacking  his  works  by  regular  approaches,  and  all  my  hope  is,  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  coop  up  Arnold  so  close,  that  he  will  be  obliged  to  make 
an  effort  to  dislodge  us." 

Measures  were  in  considerable  forwardness  for  the  purposes  expressed  in 
this  letter,  by  the  march  of  a  large  body  of  North  Carolinas  from  below, 
and  the  preparations  for  attack  under  the  baron  above,  when  the  most 
confident  hopes  of  success  were  inspired  by  the  arrival  of  a  respectable 
French  naval  force  in  the  Chesapeake.  The  escape  of  Arnold  appearing 
now  to  be  cut  off,  and  intelligence  being  received  of  the  retreat  and  critical 
situation  of  General  Greene,  Steuben  resolved  to  order  down  his  battering 
cannon,  and  leaving  General  Muhlenberg  in  command  before  Portsmouth,  to 
march  with  Generals  Weeden  and  Nelson,  to  the  relief  of  the  main  army. 


438  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


purpose  he  organized  'a  corps  of  400  regulars,  under  Colonel 
Campbell,  and  2600  militia  under  Generals  Weeden,  Nelson  and  others, 
and  by  the  25th  they  were  in  full  march  for  the  camp  on  the  Dan.  A  very 
handsome  supply  also  of  arms  and  accoutrements  for  600  men,  was  for 
warded  on  at  the  same  time,  with  the  same  destination. 

Is  the  reader  prepared  to  see  all  these  promising  prospects  blasted  by  the 
most  untoward  incidents! 

The  French  fleet  refused  to  remain  in  the  Chesapeake,  and  Arnold  escaped ; 
and  a  piece  of  incorrect  intelligence,  caused  the  recall  of  Weeden  and  Nelson, 
and  prevented  Steuben  from  prosecuting  his  purpose  of  joining  his  com 
mander. 

In  order  to  make  secure  the  effort  to  support  Greene,  and  receive  his 
orders  respecting  die  advance  of  these  reinforcements,  General  Steuben  had 
dispatched  a  Captain  North,  who  appears  to  have  acted  as  his  aid,  with  orders 
to  proceed  to  head  quarters,  and  communicate  immediately  with  the  general 
himself.  North  proceeded  as  far  as  Taylor's  ferry,  and  hearing  there  that 
Lord  Cornwallis  was  hastily  retreating  to  Wilmington,  and  Greene  in  pursuit 
with  a  superior  force,  proceeded  no  further,  but  forwarded  his  dispatches  by 
another  hand,  and  returned  to  arrest  the  advance  of  the  intended  reinforce 
ments.  The  four  hundred  men,  under  Campbell,  continued  their  inarch ;  the 
rest  were  remanded  and  returned,  when  their  presence  would  have  rendered 
the  most  signal  services.  We  do  not  find,  that  Captain  North  ever  incurred 
the  censure  which  this  act  merited,  but  it  was  impossible  to  justify  it.  To. 
indulge  conjecture  on  possible  events,  is  almost  nugatory,  in  a  world  where 
human  calculation  is  so  much  the  sport  of  fortune,  or  of  fate;  but,  it  is  impos 
sible  to  avoid  reflecting  on  the  consequences  which  .would  probably  have 
resulted  from  the  prosecution  of  the  measures  adopted  by  Steuben.  That  the 
whole  reinforcements  would  have  been  in  time  for  the  battle  at  Guilford,  is 
proved  by  the  arrival  of  the  detachment  under  Campbell;  and  that  so  strong  a 
reinforcement,  under  such  commanders,  would  have  gathered  in  its  progress 
like  a  popular  crusade,  will  readily  be  admitted  by  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  motives  and  propensities  which  influence  militia  volunteering. 

Whence  at  last  came  relief  to  the  commander  of  the  southern  department? 

Colonel  Lee,  with  the  laudable  feeling  of  a  native  Virginian,  has  asserted 
that,  "  that  state  may  well  be  denominated,  the  matrix  of  resistance  in  the 
south.  It  is  certain,  that  at  this  time,  every  effort  of  the  enemy  was  directed 
against  Virginia.  Secure  within  the  defences  of  New  York,  the  British  com 
mander  in  chief  was  wholly  occupied  in  blockading  the  French  army  at 
Newport,  and  prosecuting  the  war  against  Virginia.  It  was  now  plainly  seen, 


'  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  439 

r 

that  nothing  but  the  reduction  of  that  state  could  secure  the  subjugation  of  those  CHAP. 
which  lie  to  the  south  of  it.  Besides,  being  itself  a  magazine  of  men,  and  a  v^-^-^ 
place  of  retreat  for  an  army  operating  in  the  southern  department;  through  its 
upper  counties  must  pass  all  the  stores  and  reinforcements,  that  the  northern 
and  eastern  states  could  furnish.  Thus,  wliilst  Lord  Cormvailis  was  pressing 
upon  her  southern  frontier,  Arnold  had  penetrated  to  the  capitol,  and  a  formi 
dable  expedition  was  in  advanced  preparation  at  New  York,  to  reinforce  the 
army  now  lying  at  Portsmouth.  These  causes  distracted  the  attention  of 
Virginia;  and  in  the  necessary  effort  to  defend  herself,  the  resources  were 
exhausted,  which  would  otherwise  have  been  applied  to  the  relief  of  the 
southern  army."* 

We  feel  no  inclination  to  derogate  from  the  merits  of  a  state,  which  may 
have  been  too  much  extolled,  but  which  cannot  be  denied  the  honor  of  having 

'  O 

done  its  duty  as  well  as  any  other;  but  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  neither 
the  force  now  with  the  army,  nor  the  troops  enlisted  to  reinforce  it,  were  com 
mensurate  with  what  was  expected  of  the  population,  resources  and  pretensions 
of  the  state.  Some  very  wise  and  spirited  measures  adopted  about  this  time, 
were  calculated  to  answer  public  expectation ;  but  Virginia,  though  abounding 
in  men,  provisions,  and  horses,  had  neither  money,  commerce  nor  manufac 
tories.  This  was  the  great  cause  why  at  this  time  she  makes  so  sorry  a  figure 
in  the  field.  In  a  letter  from  the  indefatigable  Steuben,  of  the  2~2d  of  February, 
when  the  detachment  under  Campbell  was  preparing  to  march,  we  find  the 
.  following  passage: — "  All  tlus  has  not  diverted  my  attention  one  moment  from, 
you.  I  have  not  ceased  tormenting  the  governor  for  the  clothing  for  the 
troops  at  this  place;  but,  with  all  my  importunities,  I  do  no  think  I  should 
have  been  able  to  have  equipped  them  these  six  weeks,  if  a  quantity  of 
stores  had  not  arrived  from  the  northward.  From  these,  I  have  drawn  such 
articles  as  I  was  deficient  in,  and  shall  thereby  be  enabled  to  send  on  the  de 
tachments  the  25th  instant."  Thus  it  was,  that  the  sufferings  of  the  soldiers 

'  O 

with  the  army  were  protracted,  in  order  to  expedite  the  march  of  reinforce-. 
ments. 

Nor  was  the  difficulty  less  with  regard  to  arms.  A  dispute,  it  appears, 
arose  at  this  time,  respecting  the  liability  of  the  state  to  furnish  arms  to  the 
quota  required  of  it.  A  question  appears  to  have  been  made,  whether  a 
requisition  of  men  necessarily  implied  armed  men.  On  this  subject,  we  extract 
the  following  passage  of  a  letter  from  the  Governor  to  Steuben,  of  the  date  of 


*  Lee's  Memoirs, 


440  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  the  21st  December,  1780: — "  As  arms  were  never  among  the  requisitions  made 
\^*<s***s  DV  Congress  on  the  several  states,  this  state  never  supposed  it  would  be  ex 
pected,  they  should  provide  that  article  for  their  quota  of  continental  troop?. 
They  have  Only  had  in  view,  to  procure  from  time  to  time,  as  many  as  might 
arm  their  militia  when  necessity  required  the  calling  them  into  service.  From 
this  stock  they  have  furnished  arms  for  continental  use,  till  it  is  so  reduced^  that 
they  have  not  the  smallest  prospect  of  being  able,  from  the  state  magazines,  to 
spare  as  many  as  will  arm  their  own  continental  levies." 

It  thus  proved  truly  fortunate,  that  General  Greene,  before  leaving  Philadel 
phia,  had  drawn  upon  the  friendship  of  the  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of 
the  commander  in  chief,  for  supplies  of  arms;  otherwise  it  is  most  probable, 
that  Virginia  could  not  at  this  time  have  sent  a  single  recruit  into  the  field.  To 
the  intelligence  and  exertions  of  the  baron  also,  was  the  army  indebted  for 
ckeing  out  those  limited  supplies  to  their  utmost.  The  artificers,  in  their 
establishment  at  the  Point  of  Fork,  were  kept  employed  in  repairing  and  re 
fitting  arms  and  equipments;  and  the  waggons  returning  from  the  southward, 
\vere  charged  with  the  transportation  of  those  which  sustained  injury  in  service. 
Thus  it  happened,  that  in  the  fatal  irruption  of  Colonel  Tarleton,  which  we 
shall  have  occasion  particularly  to  notice,  such  quantities  of  arms  are  said  to 
have  been  found  in  that  depot. 

The  correspondence  between  the  commander  of  the  southern  department, 
and  Governor  Jefferson,  on  the  subject  of  requisitions,  puts  us  in  possession  of 
the  official  statement,  under  the  hand  of  the  latter,  of  all  the  troops  which 
Virginia  claimed  credit  for,  at  this  time;  and  we  can,  therefore,  speak  of  it  with 
minuteness,  and  with  confidence.  This  statement  bears  date  February  the  10th, 
1781,  and  from  it,  the  state  appears  to  have  in  the  field  two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  twenty-one  men,  and  to  acknowledge  a  deficiency  of  three  thousand 
one  hundred  and  eighty-eight.  But  of  those  in  the  field,  five  hundred  were 
still  to  be  clothed,  and  armed,  and  marched  from  Chesterfield  courthouse  ;  and 
the  return  acknowledges,  that  "  arms,  we  have  none,  nor  can  by  any  means 
procure  them."  One  thousand  and  sixty-one  more  arc  said  to  be  posted  at 
various  points  in  the  state;  and  the  number  actually  with  the  army,  is  stated 
to  be  twelve  hundred  and  sixty,  consisting  of  Harrison's  regiment  of  artillery, 
estimated  at  sixty — Bufort's  infantry  at  five  hundred — Greene's  at  four  hun 
dred — and  White  and  Washington's  cavalry  at  three  hundred.  Of  the  whole 
number  in  service,  only  one  hundred  and  forty-four,  stationed  at  Fort  Pit,  and 
Harrison's  sixty  artillerists  were  enlisted  for  die  war;  the  rest  were  engaged 
for  various,  and  generally  very  short  tours  of  service.  Of  the  actual  state  of 
those  troops  stationed  in  the  state,  we  know  nothing  ;  but,  if  die  state  returns 


with  regard  to  them,  be  as  inaccurate  as  they  are  with  regard  to  the  numbers  CHAP. 
with  the  southern  army,  the  deficiencies  in  the  Virginia  line  must  have  been  v^>^^ 
much  greater  than  that  admitted.     The  field-return  of  the  army  of  the  same 
date,  with  Mr.  Jefferson's  statement,  gives  of  the  Virginia  brigade,  five  hundred 
and  thirty-four  rank  and  file  fit  for  duty,  thirty  metrosses,  and  seventy-four 
cavalry — about  one  half  the  number  claimed  by  the  state.     The,  deficiency 
of  six  hundred  and  twenty-two,  if  with  the  army,  must  be  made  up  of  non 
commissioned  officers,  musicians,  sick,  and  absent  on  duty.     But,  it   is  well 
known,  that  the  cavalry  especially,  never  equalled  one  hundred,  instead  of 
three. 

Yet,  there  was  obviously  no  want  of  zeal  in  the  government  of  Virginia  to 
discharge  its  duty  in  the  common  cause.  Their  legislature  being  in  session 
when  General  Greene  was  moving  southwardly,  passed  a  most  liberal  act 
iii- consequence  of  the  requisitions  which  he  made  upon  them.  But  laws, 
without  die  means  of  carrying  them  into  effect,  can  neither.create  or  supply 
an  army.  Very  little  aid  to  the  southern  army  ever  grew  out  of  that  law. 

Yet,  there  was  one  hardship  which  the  southern  department  generally,  and 
Virginia  in  particular,  had  at  this  time  to  complain  of,  which  has  remained 
unnoticed,  although  its  effects  were  at  the  time  very  sensibly  felt.  AVhen  Con 
gress  resolved,  more  in  the  spirit  of  policy  than  of  faith,  not  to  carry  into  effect 
the  convention  of  Saratoga,  the  troops  captured  with  Burgoyne  were  marched 
into  the  interior  of  Virginia,  and  here  they  were  subsisted  altogether  by  Vir 
ginia.  The  subsistence  of  prisoners,  at  this  time,  required  of  the  state  two 
thousand  rations  per  day,  and  was  so  much  subtracted  from  her  capacity  to 
supply  the  wants  of  the  southern  army;  yet,  the  southern  commander  was 
prohibited  from  exchanging  these  troops,  even  for  the  southern  troops,  then  in 
the  prison  ships  of  Charleston.  But,  a  far  greater  cause  of  exhaustion  to 
Virginia  was  the  unbounded  license  which  every  state  then  exercised,  of  keep 
ing  just  what  militia  they  pleased  in  the  field.  Virginia,  at  this  time,  had  to 
furnish  3000  rations  per  day  for  her  own  camp. 

The  government  of  Virginia,  it  would  seem,  began  to  be  impatient  at  being 
for  ever  enlisting,  and  yet  never  having  troops  in  the  field ;  and  the  combining 
and  investigating  head  of  Stcubcn  was 'called  into  requisition  to  furnish  the 
remedy.  The  following  lines,  from  his  pen  to  the  governor  of  Virginia,  may 
furnish  useful  hints  to  those  who  shall  hereafter  bo  engaged  in  the  same  under 
taking. 

"  By  the  long  continuance  of  a  war,  it  is  natural  that  the  difficulty  and 
expense  of  raising  men  should  be  increased;  and,  therefore,  every  possible 
means  should  be  employed  for  the  preservation  of  the  ijicn  after  they  arc 

56 


442  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,  raised ;  and  every  abuse  which  has  a  contrary  tendency  should  be  inquired 
,  and  those  who  commit  them  severely  punished. 

"  The  incomplete  state  our  regiments  have  always  been  in,  has  had  a  very 
bad  effect  in  this  respect  The  regiments  were  obliged  to  be  incorporated  into 
one  another,  and  the  officers  being  shifted  about,  no  longer  had  that  attachment 
to  their  men,  which  is  necessary  for  their  preservation.  On  the  contrary,  being 
disgusted  at  this  instability,  and  smallness  of  their  commands,  they  became 
careless  of  the  men,  and  suffered  them  to  absent  themselves  when  well ;  and 
when  sent  away  siqk,  took  no  pains  for  their  recovery  or  return ;  and  every 
doctor  in  a  hospital  gave  furloughs  and  discharges,  whereby  numbers  of  them 
have  been  lost  to  the  service.  As  discharges  from  the  army  have  been  without 
any  prescribed  form,  and  none  printed,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  many 
have  been  counterfeited  by  deserters,  who  have  then  returned  with  impunity 
to  their  homes,"  &c. 

Virginia  had  but  partially  followed  the  wise  example  of  some  of  the  other 
states,  in  enlisting  for  the  war.  It  was  now  too  late,  the  demand  for  sub 
stitutes  increased  as  the  requisitions  of  militia  multiplied,  and  very  small 
indeed  was  the  number  which  even  a  high  bounty  could  tempt,  from  the 
more  lucrative,  and  less  permanent,  and  less  rigid  service  of  a  militia 
substitute.  Hence  a  measure  was  forced  upon  her,  which  for  energy  and 
wisdom,  was  excelled  by  no  measure  of  ^  e  American  war.  This  was  a 
conscription ;  such  an  one  as  will  one  day  be  adopted  by  the  United  States, 
and  after  that  day,  she  need  never  fear  a  foreign  war.  National  feeling 
seems  lately  to  have  been  interested  in  arrogating  to  Virginia,  the  honor  of 
having  given  motion  to  the  ball  of  the  revolution,  but  it  would  be  enough 
for  national  pride  to  assert  the  less  incontestible  claim  of  having  originated 
this  measure,  although  on  a  defective  plan. 

The  whole  population  of  the  state  was  equitably  distributed  into  2904 
divisions,  and  each  was  required  to  furnish  a  man,  or  stand  a  draft  for 
eighteen  month's  service,  and  other  specific  contributions  were  imposed  in 
the  same  just  and  efficient  mode. 

The  very  spirited  resolutions  adopted  by  Virginia  at  this  time,  plainly 
exhibit,  that  if  the  public  energy  had  for  a  time  flagged,  the  spring  had  now 
resumed  its  elasticity.  Yet  such  was  the  baleful  influence  of  the  militia 
requisitions  over  enlistments  for  the  regular  army,  that  when  the  brigade 
in  service  under  Stevens,  was  about  being  discharged,  Steuben  solicited  the 
adjutant  general  not  to  order  out  a  relief  of  the  same  species  of  troops, 
assuring  him  that  the  war  could  not  be  carried  on  by  militia.  And  even 
after  Greene  had  retreated  across  the  Dan,  and  pressing  necessity  would  have 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  413 

• 

made  any  species  of  reinforcements  welcome,  he  consoles  his  commander  for  CHAP. 
the  loss  of  the   detachment   which   had  been  halted   and   discharged 
most  wanted,  by  assuring  him  that  while  the   militia   are   on   foot,   all   re 
cruiting  of  the  regular  troops  is  at  an  end.     Yet,  if  the  wisdom  of  man  could 
have  suggested   an  expeditious,  and  effectual  mode   of  filling  the   ranks   of 
the  Virginia  contingent,  it  was  that  of  a  draft.     For  although  the  demand  for 
militia  substitutes,  might  for  a  while   maintain  the  struggle   for  ascendency, 
the  union  of  powers  and  efforts,  which  forms  the  basis  of  the   conscriptive 
plan,  must  in  the  end  have  triumphed,  had   there  been  strength  enough  in 
the  civil  arm  to  carry  it  into   effect. 

Ever  since  General  Greene  had  taken  the  command,  Maryland  had  much 
exceeded  Virginia  in  the  number  of  her  troops  in  the  field.  After  the  dread 
ful  reduction  of  their  ranks  at  the  defeat  of  Gates,  a  number  of  recruits 
and  stragglers  of  that  line,  had  been  collected  and  sent  on  to  the  army.  That 
state  very  early  adopted  the  wise  policy  of  enlisting  for  the  war,  and  the 
excellent  effect  of  it  was  sensibly  felt  at  the  Cowpens,.  at  Guilford,  and  the 
Eutaws.  On  the  17th  February,  the  Maryland  troops  in  the  field  were 
returned  at  1312,  but  want  of  clothing,  severe  service  and  small  detachments, 
had  reduced  the  number  fit  for  duty,  much  below  the  aggregate. 

The  Delaware  troops  also,  it  will  be  recollected,  had  suffered  very  severely 
at  the  defeat  of  Gates.  This  little  corps,  although  numbering  but  about  60 
or  80  effectives,  was  the  admiration  of  the  army,  and  their  leader  Kirkwood 
was  the  American  Diomed.  Like  the  Marylanders  they  had  been  enlisted 
for  the  war,  and  like  the  veterans  of  that  brigade,  were  not  excelled  by  any 
troops  in  America,  perhaps  in  the  world.  The  attention  of  General  Gist, 
it  will  be  recollected,  had  been  devoted  to  soliciting  aid  from  the  legislatures  of 
these  two  states,  but  not.  with  the  most  satisfactory  result.  A  few  recruits 
were  occasionally  sent  on,  but  the  number  in  service  from  these  two  states, 
at  no  time  exceeded  the  present  return.  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  and 
^sorth  Carolina  had  not  a  single  regular  in  the  field.  The  miserable  remnant 
of  their  troops  were  all  pining  in  the  prison  ships  of  Savannah  and  Charleston. 
Immediately  after  the  fall  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  was  entirely  over 
run,  and  her  constituted  authorities  captured  or  dispersed.  Georgia  had  been 
similarly  situated  from  the  fall  of  Savannah.  And  North  Carolina,  exhausted, 
distracted  and  enfeebled,  had  never  bent  her  attention  to  the  raising  of  new 
troops.  But  their  legislature  were  at  this  time  in  session  at  Newbern,  and 
urged  not  less  by  the  remonstrances  of  Greene  than  by  their  own  zeal  and 
patriotism,  were  seriously  devising  means  for  raising  a  regular  force. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 


reui*orcemcnt  with  which  General  Greene  determined  to  rccross  the 
,  consisted  altogether  of  volunteers  from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  The 
people  of  Halifax  county,  particularly  exhibited  a  noble  zeal  on  this  occasion. 
Such  was  the  promising  appearance  of  the  temper  of  the  people  in  the  country 
adjacent  to  his  camp,  that  Greene  promptly  resolved  to  take  advantage  of  the 
tide  that  now  set  to\vards  him.  General  Stevens  had  scarcely  delivered  his 
prisoners,  and  halted  to  deliver  at  Pittsylvania  court  house  the  public  arms; 
which  had  been  furnished  to  his  brigade  ;  when,  accompanied  by  a  few  fol 
lowers,  zealous  as  himself,  he  repaired  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  commanding 
general.  His  arrival  was  the  most  fortunate  incident  imaginable,  for  it  enabled 
Greene  to  furnish  the  Virginians  with  a  popular  and  able  officer  of  their  own 
state.  On  the  19th  February,  Stevens  received  an  order  from  Greene  to 
engage  any  number  of  volunteers  in  the  public  service,  for  the  term  of  six 
weeks.  Before  the  23d  he  had  near  1000  men  enrolled. 

It  will  readily  be  conceived  tliat  the  spirit  of  volunteering  had  received  its 
direction  and  impulse  from  some  influential  quarter.  However  strong  may 
be  the  working  of  popular  feeling,  men  generally  wait  for  the  example  and 
countenance  of  those  who  possess  the  public  confidence.  It  would  be  in 
justice  to  two  distinguished  patriots  of  the  revolution,  not  to  notice  the  share 
they  had  in  this  noble  effort  of  individual  patriotism.  These  were  Patrick 
Henry  and  Thomas  Jefferson. 

A  late  writer  has  noticed  the  conduct  of  the  latter  gentleman  about  this 
period,  with  imputations  of  which,  judging  from  the  evidence  before  us,  we 
should  be  disposed  to  pronounce  him  every  way  undeserving.  Never  did  an 
officer  of  the  United  States  experience  more  cordial  and  zealous  support,  than 
that  which  Greene  received  at  this  time  from  Governor  Jefferson.  That  die 
governor's  effort  in  another  quarter  should  have  been  less  ready,  less  judicious,  or 
less  efficient,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive.  Every  requisition  of  the  commanding 
general  was  promptly  complied  with;  the  militia  of  the  neighbouring  countries 
ordered  into  the  field,  and  several  active  and  spirited  measures  pursued  for 
replenishing  Washington's  corps  of  horse.  Indeed  it  is  a  well  known  fact  that 
liis  popularity  was  at  this  time  greatly  affected,  by  charges  of  his  having  done 
?oo  much;  and  if  we  suppose  his  efforts  in  other  quarters  to  have  been  met^ 
vrith  the  same  querulous  spirit,  it  is  not  difficult  to  assign  a  cause  why  there  was 
orvt  sufficient  preparation  made  for  repelling  the  incursions  of  Arnold. 

From  the  numerous  letters  from  this  gentleman  now  spread  before  us,  we 
only  select  the  following  passages  : 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  ^445 

"RICHMOND,  February  17th,  1781. 

"In  the  moment  of  receiving  your  letter  of  the  10th,  I  issued  orders  to 
txmnties  of  Washington,  Montgomery,  Botetourt  and  Bedford  for  seven  hun- 
"dred  and  odd  riflemen,  and  to  those  of  Henry  and  Pittsylvania,  for  four  hun 
dred  and  odd  of  their  militia.  Yet  my  trust  is  that  neither  these  nor  the 
adjacent  counties  have  awaited  orders,  but  that  they  have  turned  out  and  will 
have  joined  you  in  greater  numbers  than  we  have  directed.  I  shall  be  glad  if 
you  will  call  on  the  neighbouring  county  lieutenants,  for  any  succours  which 
you  may  want  and  circumstances  forbid  to  be  delayed. 

**P.  S.  Since  writing  the  above  we  are  told  Lord  Cornwallis  hasadvanced  to 
the  Roanoke.  I  am,  in  consequence,  issuing  orders  to  embody  every  man  be 
tween  this  and  that,  for  whom  a  firelock  can  be  procured,  and  that  they 

march  to  join  you." 

» 

*'  RICHMOND,  February  18th,  1781. 

"  I  have  this  moment  received  yours  of  the  15th  from  Boyd's  ferry.  1  had 
heard  yesterday  of  the  approach  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  gave  orders  in  con 
sequence,  for  embodying  so  many  of  the  militia  between  this  place  and  that  as 
could  be  armed,  and  of  this  gave  you  information  in  a  letter  of  yesterday's 
date.  I  hoped,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  militia  would  not  await  my  orders; 
and  by  the  letters  I  receive,  I  trust  they  have  not.  I  sincerely  wish  you  may 
find  it  practicable  to  avoid  a  general  action,  till  you  can  be  sufficiently  re- 
enforced  with  militia,  which  I  am  sure  you  will  be  as  far  as  arms  can  be  foand. 
The  moment  I  hear  Lord  Cornwallis  has  crossed  the  Dan,  I  shall  order  every 
man  to  be  embodied  on  this  side  the  river,  within  a  reasonable  distance,  who 
can  be  armed.  I  shall  attend,  as  far  as  depends  on  me,  to  officering  the  militia 
as  you  recommend,  [with  continental  officers]  and  mounting  the  cavalry.  As 
to  yourself,  I  would  advise,  that  you  make  no  scruples  about  property,  so  far 
as  it  is  wanted  for  the  public ;  only  give  orders,  that  the  owners  be  furnished 
with  proper  documents,  that  they  may  be  reimbursed." 

"  P.  S.  Take  horses  to  mount  your  cavalry,  and  I  will  undertake  to  have  it 
justified." 

The  day  following,  regular  press  warrants  for  this  purpose  were  forwarded  ; 
and  to  give  countenance  and  aid  to  the  commanding  general,  in  the  measures 
which  he  might  find  it  necessary  to  pursue,  a  Major  M'Gill,  a  gentleman  of 
respectable  standing,  wras  dispatched  to  attend  the  camp,  and  lend  his  personal 
assistance  wherever  it  could  be  beneficial. 


446  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  It  is  not  in  our  power  to  give  any  thing  of  this  date  from  the  pen  of  die 
v^-v^v/ celebrated  Patrick  Henry;  for  it  is  an  acknowledged  fact,  that  pen,  ink  and 
paper,  were  to  him  the  objects  of  habitual  loathing.  But,  his  patriotism  needs 
not  a  written  record  to  support  its  reputation.  On  this  occasion,  he  also  dis 
patched  an  envoy  to  camp,  with  a  tender  of  his  ever  ready  aid.  The  answer 
of  the  general  is  before  us,  requesting  him  to  set  on  foot  a  corps  of  volunteers, 
1500  hi  number,  if  practicable.  Henry's  envoy  had  been  dispatched  at  so 
early  a  day,  as  to  have  reached  the  army  when  it  lay  at  Guilford ;  and  the 
advantage  in  point  of  time,  not  less  than  the  winged  zeal  of  voluntary  service, 
had  brought  Henry's  volunteers  into  the  field,  much  earlier  than  die  drafted 
_rnen  of  the  governor. 

..The  following  extract  of  the  letter  to  Mr.  Henry ',  written  on  diis  occasion, 
will  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader; 

*  -  '*  * 

"  February '  Wth,  1781. 

"  My  force  is  too  inconsiderable  to  confine  the  limits  of  the  enemy's  djepre- 
.dations,  or  in  any  wise  to  check  the  rapidity  of  their  march  through  diis 
unhappy  countiy.  My  duty  compels  me  to  retreat  immediately,  as  the 
only  means  eventually  to  save  the  country.  Your  influence  in  Virginia,  pro 
perly  exerted  at  this  important  period,  may  terminate  die  war  greatly  to  the 
honor  and  advantage  of  the  southern  states.  If  it  is  possible  for  you  to  call 
.forth  fifteen  hundred  volunteers,  and  march  them  immediately  to  my  assis 
tance,  the  British  army  will  be  exposed  to  a  very  critical  and  dangerous 
situation.  In  all  probability,  you  will  find  me  on  the  north  side  pf  the  Dan 
river.  I  must  repeat  it,  the  present  moment  is  big  with  the  most  important 
consequences,  and  requires  the  greatest  and  most  spirited  exertions.  You,  I 
know,  are  equal  to  them,  and  I  trust  no  step  will  be  omitted  that  may  be 
necessary  to  call  forth  die  power  of  your  part  to  the  country." 

The  spirited  and  rapid  concentration  of  the  volunteers  under  Stevens, 
enabled  the  commanding  general  to  resume  aggressive  operations  on  the  2od 
of  February.  On  that  day  he  recrossed  the  Dan  with  the  main  army,  with  a 
resolution  to  cut  off  the  British  army  from  the  upper  country,  and  either  force 
it  upon  Steuben,  who  was  ordered  to  watch  any  attempt  diat  might  be  made 
to  strike  across  the  country  below;  or  oblige  it  to  retreat  to  Wilmington,  through 
a  country  great  part  of  which  is  barren;  and  in  passing  through  which,  there 
was  great  reason  to  believe,  it  might  be  exposed  to  imminent  danger,  should 
the  milida  collect  with  spirit  in  its  front  and  on  its  flanks. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  447 

•  Great  as  was  the  reluctance  of  the  American  commander  again,  to  expose    CHAP. 

O  *  Y 

his  barefooted  troops  to 'the  severity  of  this  service,  the  object  was  too  inviting  s^v^^ 
to  admit  of  hesitation.  From  this  time  also,  every  moment  was  influenced  by 
the  necessity  of  making  the  most  of  the  time  that  his  reinforcements  were 
engaged  for,  and  in  keeping  up  the  excitement  which  motion  communicates 
to  a  species  of  troops,  whose  spirits  soon  flagg  in  a  state  of  inactivity;  nor 
Was  he  less  controlled  in  his  measures  by  the  obvious  importance  of  repressing 
that  excitement  which  the  presence  of  the  British  army  was  likely  to  produce 
among  the  settlements  of  loyalists.  Lord  Cornwallis  had  now  seated  himself 
down  in  his  land  of  promise,  and  the  alarming  intelligence  had  reached  the 
American  commander,  that  he  had  succeeded  in  forming  no  less  than  seven 
companies  of  royalists  in  one  day,  in  Hillsborough. 

When  the  British  commander  abandoned  the  banks  of  the  Dan,  he  must 
Still  have  entertained  the  hope  of  drawing  his  wary  adversary  into  some  act 
of  indiscretion.  It  is  impossible  otherwise  to  account  for  the  apparent  inde 
cision  of  his  movements.  Instead  of  pursuing  the  direct  road  to  Hillsborough, 
his  first  day's  march  was  up  the  course  of  the  river,  on  the  rout  by  which  he 
had  pursued  the  retreating  Americans,  and  appeared  to  threaten  the  party 
under  Pickens,  or  indicate  an  attempt  to  cross  the  river  above  Boyd's.  The 
next  was  in  a  direction  nearly  contrary,  and  indicated  a  view  to  the  magazines 
and  stores,  (now  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Roanoke)  or  an  intention  to  take  a 
route  below,  for  pushing  on  to  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake.  The  third  was 
in  a  direction  nearly  at  right  angles,  or  rather  retrograde  to  the  last,  and  led 
directly  to  Hillsborough.  Here  he  arrived  on  the  20th,  and  erected  die 
British  standard,  fondly  flattering  himself  and  his  employers  that  the  state  was 
conquered.  Nothing  was  farther  from  the  truth,  and  chagrinc  and  .disappoint 
ment  soon  attended  the  development  of  his  error. 

Immediately  on  his  arrival  at  Hillsborough,  appeared  the  British  commander's 
celebrated  proclamation  reciting,  "that it  had  pleased  the  divine  providence 
to  prosper  his  majesty's  arms  in  driving  the  rebel  army  out  of  the  province,  and 
as  it  was  his  majesty's  most  gracious  wish  to  rescue  his  loyal  and  faithful  sub 
jects  from  the  cruel  tyranny  under  which  they  had  groaned  for  several  years, 
calling  upon  his  loyal  and  faithful  subjects  to  repair  without  loss  of  time  to 
his  standard,  equiped  with  arms,  and  furnished  with  ten  days  provisions."  At 
the  same  time  appeared  an  advertisement,  calling  upon  his  majesty's  loyal  and 
faithful  subjects  able  and  willing  to  undertake  to  raise  independent  companies 
to  be  formed  into  regiments,  to  give  in  their  names  immediately  at  head-quar 
ters,  and  offering  a  bounty  in  guineas  and  lands  to  the  men  who  should  enlist 
tinder  them. 


148  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  Nothing  could  be  more  flattering  than  the  prospects  of  the  British  com- 
^^y-^/  mander,  for  die  first  three  days  after  the*  appearance  of  these  publications. 
The  most  earnest  professions  of  loyalty  greeted  his  ear,  and  the  crowds  of 
inhabitants  who  thronged  around  his  camp,  promised  a  rich  harvest  of  recruits. 
But,  suddenly  the  crowd  began  to  drop  away,  and  the  dissipation  of  his  proud 
topes  was  soon  accounted  for  by  intelligence,  that  Greene,  being  reinforced, 
had  recrossed  the  Dan,  and  was  inarching  in  a  direction  to  intercept  his  com 
munication  with  the  upper  country,  while  Pickcns  and  Lee  were  already  in 
'view  of  liis  camp. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Lord  Cornwallis  wrote  to  the  British  ministry, 
that  he  was  surrounded  by  timid  friends  and  inveterate  enemies.  The  dangers 
of  his  situation  began  now  to  open  on  his  view;  and  to  fight  his  antagonist, 
became,  from  this,  time  as  much  a  matter  of  necessity,  as  it  had  been  before  a 
matter  of  choice.  The  waning  state  of  his  stores — the  falling  off  of  his  men 
by  desertion — the  defection  of  the  wary  loyalists — the  alarm  from  all  quar 
ters,  of  the  advance  of  the  hostile  militia,  and  not  less,  a  consciousness  that  he 
had  made  no  friends  in  his  advance  through  the  country — plainly  sho\ved  that 
he  had  now  no  alternative,  but  conquest  or  destruction.  The  army  of 
Greene  must  be  dissipated  or  driven  off,  or  his  own  discomfiture  was  scarcely 
avoidable. 

The  numerous  precautions  adopted  by  the  American  commander  to  watch 
the  steps  of  die  enemy,  on  die  first  appearance  of  motion  in  his  camp,  affords 
an  instructive  specimen  of  military  vigilance.  An  entire  new  combinadon  of 
measures  and  designs  was  now  forming;  the  views  of  the  enemy  in  every  move 
ment  were  to  be  cautiously  looked  into,  and  it  was  as  necessary  to  guard 
against  diosc  that  were  mere  feints,  as  to  prepare  to  counteract  those  which 
were  real. 

The  waving  handkerchief  of  a  patriotic  female,  who  had  stolen  under 
covert  of  the  bank,  was  the  concerted  signal  that  the  enemy  had  commenced 
a  retreat  from  the  Dan.  Immediately  every  thing  was  in  motion  in  die 
American  camp.  Major  Pierce,  one  of  the  general's  aids,  with  a  small  but 
select  escort,  equipped  equally  to  fight  or  to  fly,  hung  upon  their  wings  and  col 
lected  and  dispatched  intelligence.  Colonels  Williams  and  Campbell,  too 
eminent  partisan  leaders  of  the  North  Carolina  militia,  with  their  faithful 
adherents  on  horse  back,  patrolled  the  banks  of  the  river  and  guarded  the 
passes  above.  And  Colonel  Otho  Williams,  with  the  same  select  detachment 
that  had  been  placed  under  his  command  at  Guilford,  was  pushed  across  the 
/iver,  to  hang  on  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  watch  his  movements,  and  if  his  intcu- 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  44< 

tion  should  be  to  move  on  for  Wilmington,  by  all  possible  means  to  retard  his   CHAP. 

march.  ^-v~«*. 

Wbilst  the  infantry  of  Williams'  detachment  approached  with  more  cautious 
steps  the  rear  of  the  enemy ;  the  legion,  under  Lee,  supported  by  two  companies 
of  Masy landers,  and  the  cavalry,  under  Washington,  were  pushed  forward  by 
different  routes  on  his  wings. 

Colonel  Washington  continued  his  march  parallel  to  that  of  the  enemy,  until 
he  fully  ascertained  its  direction  towards  Hillsborough,  when  he  retraced  his 
steps  and  attached  himself  to  Colonel  Williams.  The  range  of  Colonel  Lc£  was 
of  far  greater  duration  and  extent.  He  was  now  in  the  very  element  of  his 
talents.  Better  scope  for  the  exercise  of  his  partsian  powers  could  not  be 
coveted,  and  we  find  him  every  hour  meditating  or  executing  some  new 
exploit.  His  communications,  which  were  frequent  and  hurried,  exhibit  the 
greatest  activity,  zeal  and  intelligence.  On  the  right,  on  the  left,  in  the  rear 
of  the  enemy,  wherever  service  could  be  performed,  or  intelligence  collected, 
we  find  him  continually  occupied,  and  forever  changing  his  positions,  to  guard 
against  surprise.  At  length,  on  the  day  that  Corn wallis  took  the  direct  route  to 
Hillsborough,  suspecting  from  its  being  the  direct  route  also  to  Wilmington,  that 
the  event  which  he  knew  his  commander  most  deprecated,  was  about  to  take 
place,  he  formed  the  resolution  to  throw  himself  in  the  front  of  the  whole 
British  army,  and  by  forming  ajunction  with  Butler  or  Governor  Nash,  then 
marching  up  the  Cape  Fear,  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  escape  of  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  to  his  shipping,  until  Greene  could  be  upon  him  with  a  reinforced  army. 

The  letter  in  which  this  communication  is  made,  contains  a  passage  too 
strikingly  characteristic  to  be  omitted: — "Should  the  enemy  move  on  towards 
Cross  Creek,  [the  route  to  Wilmington]  I  have  determined  to  get  in  their 
front,  in  order  to  cause  every  opposition  in  my  power,  with  the  view  of  de 
laying  their  progress.  In  this  service  I  must  lose  men;  and  rely  on  your 
pro'mise  for  the  filling  up  of  the  legion."  This  was  all  the  boon  that  he  a^kecl 
for  exposing  them  to  loss,  or  himself  to  the  mortification  of  a  diminished  com 
mand. 

At  length,  having  fully  ascertained,  that  the  present  views  of  Lord  Corn  wallis 
did  not  threaten  an  immediate  escape,  and  being  informed  that  his  pickets 
-exhibited  all  that  consciousness  of  security  which  flows  from  the  supposed 
absence  of  danger,  he  resolved,  on  the  morning  of  the^2d,  to  strike  a  blow  at 
one  posted  at  Hart's  Mills  two  and  a  half  miles  from  Hillsborough,  and  make 
prisoners  for  obtaining  intelligence.  Captain  Egleston,  of  the  legionary  corps, 
was  accordingly  dispatched  for  the  purpose;  and  with  the  boldness  and  precau 
tion  which  always  distinguished  that  officer,  he  approached  the  position  of  the 

57 


450  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP,    picket — But,  what  was  his  surprise,  to  find  himself  anticipated,  and  the  whole 
>-^v-^/  picket  already  killed,  or  in  possession  of  an  American  party. 

This  service  had  been  performed  by  a  party  commanded  by  Colonel  Hugh 
M'Call,  detached  for  the  purpose  by  General  Pickens.  That  indefatigable 
officer,  the  mom  nt  he  learned  that  Lord  Cormvallis,  after  a  day's*  march 
towards  him,  had  taken  a  contrary  direction,  dispatched  intelligence  of  it  to 
General  Greene,  and  received  from  him  instructions  to  put  his  command  in 
motion,  and  press  upon  the  enemy's  rear.  The  necessities  of  their  families, 
bad  obliged  one  half  of  his  command  to  return  to  their  homes:  but,  the  gallant 

%  O 

little  band  under  M'Call  still  adhered  to  him,  and  by  the  accession  of  volun 
teers  from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  their  numbers  were  increased  to  SCO 
rank  and  file,  consisting  of  the  party  of  horse  formed  under  M'Call  at  the 
affair  of  the  Cowpens,  about  45  in  number,  and  the  rest,  well  mounted 
rillcmen.  With  this  party  he  had  advanced  upon  Cornwallis  by  the  direct 
route  from  Guilford  to  Hillsborough,  and  without  knowing  of  his  near  approach 
to  the.  party  under  Lee,  although  apprized  of  their  being  on  the  same  service, 
had  anticipated  him  in  the  enterprise  against  the  British  picket.  The  t\vo 
parties  immediately  after  formed  a  junction,  and  found  themselves  in  force  to 
brave  more  hazardous  cnterprizes.* 

The  obvious  effect  produced  on  the  minds  of  the  loyalists  by  the  military 
insult  of  the  morning,  indicated  to  Lord  Cornwallis,  the  necessity  of  driving 
away  a  party  supposed  to  consist  only  of  Lee?s  command ;  so  silent  had  been 
die  approach  of  Pickens,  that  his  presence  was  not  suspected,  nor  was  it  less 
necessary  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  loyalists  who  were  now  embodying 
at  different  rendezvous  appointed  by  their  leaders.  A  detachment  under 
Tarleton  was  accordingly  sent  out,  and  never  did  a  detachment  more  narrowly 
escape  destruction,  for  it  passed  very  near  the  American  force  without  knowing 
of  their  presence.  It  was  probably  an  overmatch  for  Lee's  legion,  especially 
as  it  was  furnished  with  two  pieces  of  light  artillery ;  but,  by  the  junction  of  the 
party  under  Pickens,  there  was  a  decided  superiority  in  numbers  on  the  Ame 
rican  side.  The  march  of  this  party  was  not  known  to  the  Americans  until 
the  morning  ef  the  ensuing  day. 

On  the  night  of  the  21st,  conformably  to  an  intimation  previously  given  to 
General  Pickens,  General  Greene,  attended  by  a  small  escort  of  dragoons, 
visited  the  former  in  his  camp ;  and  having  spent  die  greatest  part  of  the  night 


*  Colonel  Lre  is  quite  mistaken  uitb  regard  to  the  time  anil  cirr amstances  of  his  junction  whfi 
Pickens. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

in  his  bush  tent,  in  consultation  with  himself  and  Colonel  Lee  on  their  future  CHAP. 
measures,  the  two  generals,  wrapped  in  their  cloaks,  shared  the  same  blanket  ^^^ 
in  a  refreshing  nap,  preparatory  to  the  labours  of  the  ensuing  day.     Greene 
then  committed  the  whole  detachment  to  the  command  of  Pickens ;  and  after 
exhorting  the  two  commanders  in  the  most  earnest  and  affectionate  manner, 
to  let  nothing  disturb  their  harmony,  and  partaking  of  the  sorry  fare  afforded 
by  Pickens7  wigwam,  he  took  his  departure  for  Williams'  head  quarters. 

The  orders  given  to  Pickens  were,  to  make  every  effort  to  prevent  the  em 
bodying  of  the  loyalists,  and  impede  the  progress  of  the  British  army,  should 
their  commander  attempt  to  retreat,  before  the  main  army  could  advance  to 
attack  it.  And,  as  several  rendezvous  of  loyalists  had  been  appointed  in  the 
fork  of  the  Haw  and  Deep  rivers,  and  a  position  in  that  quarter  would  also  be 
in  the  way  of  the  retreat  of  the  British  army  to  Wilmington,  that  tract  of 
country  was  particularly  recommended  to  his  attention.  It  was  this  fear  of  the 
escape  of  Cornwallis,  that  had  brought  Greene  to  Pickens'  encampment  within 
eighteen  miles,  and  to  the  westward,  of  the  British  lines,  and  very  narrowly 
must  he  have  escaped  Tarleton  in  making  the  visit.  In  the  letter  which 
announces  his  intention  to  obtain  a  personal  interview,  he  writes, 

1 *    "  20th  February. 

"  I  beg  you  will  continue  to  pursue  the  enemy,  and  harass  them  as  much  as 
possible.  I  have  been  joined  by  1000  militia  from  this  state,  and  expect  1000 
more  in  a  few  days.  If  we  can  but  delay  Lord  Cornwallis  a  day  or  two,  he 
must  be  ruined.  I  am  sensible  that  your  exertions  have  been  very  great." 
On  the  following  day,  he  writes : — "  Push  up  with  their  rear  as  soon  as 
possible-— Colonel  Lee,  with  his  legion,  is  in  full  pursuit — Colonel  Williams, 
with  the  light  infantry,  is  also  on  the  march — The  army  will  cross  the  river  in 
the  morniiig  with  a  considerable  reinforcement  of  militia — If  we  can  get  up 
with  the  enemy,  I  have  no  doubt  of  giving  a  good  account  of  him — Send 
another  express  after  Campbell,  to  push  on  with  all  imaginable  dispatch — 
*Every  thing  depends  upon  it." 

By  the  examination  of  the  prisoners  taken  in  the  morning,  the  American 
general  became  satisfied  that  the  enemy  had  no  immediate  intention  of  moving 
southwardly.  The  impression  that  such  was  his  design,  had  been  produced 
by  a  movement  across  the  little  river  Eno,  one  of  the  heads  of  the  Neusc, 
running  within  a  mile  of  Hillsborough.  But,  it  was  now  ascertained,  that  the 
sole  object  of  the  detachment  marched  in  that  direction  was,  to  take  possession 
of  a  commanding  eminence,  from  which  the  army  might  have  been  annoyed 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

in  its  encampment.  This  bore  the  appearance  of  taking  a  post,  and  the  Ame- 
commander  was  no  longer  in  doubt  about  his  enemy's  motives.  He  saw 
that  the  flattering  appearances  of  loyalty  in  the  people,  and  the  obvious  dangers 
attendant  on  a  retreat,  had  led  to  a  resolution  to  endeavour  to  hold  the  coun 
try.  Nothing  now  remained  to  be  done  but  to  prepare  for  the  decisive  blow 
by  hastening  on  his  reinforcements,  while  he  occupied,  with  the  main  army, 
a  position  the  most  favourable  for  covering  their  concentration,  and  for 
cutting  off  the  enemy's  communication  with  the  upper  country.  With  these 
views,  the  army  was  crossed  over  the  Dan,  and  marched  towards  the  head 
waters  of  the  Haw  river,  on  the  route  to  Guilford,  in  a  westerly  direction,  and 
encamped  successively  at  Dobb's  ferry,  the  plantation  of  Colonel  Moore,  and 
the  high  rock  ford  on  the  Haw  river. 

In  the  mean  time  Pickcns  lost  not  a  moment  in  performing  the  services- 
committed  to  his  charge.  Directing  his  march  in  a  line  nearly  parrallel  to 
that  of  the  main  army,  and  about  twenty  miles  distant  from  it,  he  contemplated 
passing  the  Haw,  and  by  secret  and  rapid  movements  to  disperse  the  lories 
at  their  several  rendezvous.  This  route  soon  brought  him  upon  the  trail  of 
Colonel  Tarleton,  and  all  his  apprehensions  were  awakened  for  several  rein 
forcements  of  militia,  whom  he  new  to  be  marching  to  join  him.  One  in 
particular  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Preston,  and  another  under  Colonel 
W.  Campbell,  he  knew  to  be  far  advanced  on  their  march.  Colonel  Locke, 
also  had  been  left  in  his  rear  with  a  party  of  foot,  when  he  advanced 
with  his  mounted  men  to  the  British  lines  at  Hillsborough.  Without  hesi 
tation  therefore,  he  resolved  to  hasten  forward  in  pursuit  of  Tarleton,  and 
direct  his  first  efforts  towards  the  safety  of  his  friends.  As  they  were  without 
cavalry,  he  anticipated  their  fate,  should  they  foil,  within  the  reach  of  Tarletoirs 
gabres.  There  was  no  difficulty  in  determining  the  route  of  the  British  party, 
the  smoking  ruins  of  the  settlements  of  the  whigs,  marked  their  course  for  many 
miles  ahead.  General  Butler's  plantation  which  lay  in  their  route,  was  a 
particular  object  of  their  desolating  valour.  And  the  firm  remonstrances  of 
Major  Car,  an  inoffensive  old  man,  but  a  firm  whig,  was  answered  by  a  gash 
of  the  broad  sword,  and  the  mockery  of  the  plundering  soldiery. 

Such  was  the  expedition  with  which  the  American  party  pressed  the  pursuit, 
that  at  noon  of  the  25th,  they  were  near  surprising  their  enemy  when  securely 
seated  at  his  dinner.  The  necessary  halt  in  making  arrangments  for  the  attack, 
gave  the  enemy  time  to  move  off  and  cross  the  Haw,  at  a  fording  place  which 
was  too  convenient  to  cause  any  delay  :  this  was  done  without  the  least  suspicion 
of  the  approaching  danger.  Pickens  followed  on  with  expedition,  resolved 
to  give  his  enemy  no  time  to  receive  intelligence  of  his  near  approach.  Tliis, 

•* 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  453 

but  for  one  fortunate  circumstance,  would  have  been  impossible.     Nothing  CHAP. 

•  x 

could  be  more  unexpected  to  the  natives,  than   an  American  party  marching  <^^*j 

from  Hillsborough.  His  command  was  therefore  taken  for  a  reinforcement  to 
that  under  Tarleton,  and  as  the  uniform  of  the  legion  was  precisely  that  of 
the  legion  commanded  by  the  British  colonel,  the  American  commander  found 
no  difficulty  in  keeping  up  the  deception.  "  Never"  says  General  Pickens  in 
his  communication  to  General  Greene,  "  was  there  a  more  glorious  opportunity 
of  cutting  off  a  detachment  than  this  ;  when,  pushing  on  with  the  utmost  hope, 
and  our  men  in  the  highest  spirits,  our  sanguine  expectations  were  blasted  by 
our  falling  in  with  a  body  of  from  two  to  three  hundred  tories  under  the 
command  of  a  Colonel  Piles." 

The  situation  of  the  American  commander  was  now  embarrassing  in  the 
extreme  ;  but  having  ascertained,  from  the  confident  approach  of  a  courier  from 
the  party,  that  the  general  deception  had  been  communicated  to  Colonel  Piles, 
he  boldly  resolved  to  pass  him  without  an  eclaircissement,  and  proceed  on  to 
the  attack  of  Tarleton,  then  within  one  mile,  and  ecamped  without  an  appre 
hension  of  danger.  Piles,  unfortunately,  inspired  with  a  loyal  desire  to  pay 
due  homage  to  his  majesty's  troops,  had  drawn  up  his  men  on  the  right  of  the 
road  very  near  to  its  margin  ;  they  were  all  mounted,  and  their  guns  resting 
on  their  shoulders.  So  complete  was  the  imposition,  that  the  dragoons  which 
inarched  in  files  in  front,  their  swords  drawn,  had  reached  the  extremity  of 
Piles'  line,  before  a  suspicion  was  excited.  The  infantry  of  the  legion  might 
also  have  passed,  and  probably  the  militia,  for  there  was  nothing  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  troops  with  Tarleton,  but  unfortunately,  the  Maryland  companies, 
under  Lee,  had  been  too  familiarly  known  in  that  neighbourhood,  and  their 
uniform  had  nothing  like  it  in  the  British  army.  Their  appearance  detected 
the  deception,  and  the  instantaneous  discharge  of  a  feu*  guns  at  the  rear  of  the 
cavalry  brought  the  whole  of  that  corps  about  upon  the  unfortunate  loyalists. 
\Vlr-u  followed  was  chiefly  tiie  result  of  a  very  few  minutes.  Those  who  did 
not  sink  under  the  first  onset  of  the  cavalry,  broke  away  in  confusion,  and 
many  fell  beneath  a  volley  from  the  riflemen.  Pickens  made  the  most  earnest 
efforts  to  suppress  the  firing;  though  the  dictates  of  humanity  had  not  influenced 
him,  the  fear  of  alarming  the  unsuspecting  Tarleton  would  have  suggested  it. 
But  in  a  pell  mell  affair  of  this  kind,  even  with  regular  troops,  time  would  -be 
requisite  to  convey  and  enforce  such  an  order.  One  hundred  were  left  dead 
upon  the  field,  and  very  few  escaped,  not  greviously  wounded.  Their  com 
mander  fell  under  .many  strokes  of  the  sword,  but  survived,  although  dreadfully 
mutilated. 


454  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  This  was  a  day  of  tears  and  lamentation  to  that  neighbourhood.  Many  a 
a  husband,  and  a  father,  met  with  a  most  sudden  and  unexpected  fate. 
The  soul  sickens  at  such  an  instance  of  unresisted  slaughter,  and  it  has  called 
down  the  severest  animadversions  upon  the  conduct  of  the  American  party. 
It  is  enough  to  be  said  of  it,  that  there  cannot  be  found  such  another  instance  of 
military  execution  inflicted  by  the  American  arms  in  the  whole  history  of  the 
revolution.  Far  be  it  from  us  to  stand  forth  the  apologist  of  unnecessary 
bloodshed.  Yet  two  things  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  humanity  of  Pickcns 
was  proverbial,  and  that  Colonel  Lee  was  never  charged  with  any  other  in 
stance  of  unnecessary  severity.  Let  the  extraordinary  peculiarity  of  the 
circumstances  attending  the  affair  be  considered,  and  it  will  be  difficult  to  point 
out  how  such  an  issue  could  have  been  avoided.  The  first  blow  would  pro 
bably  be  decisive  between  the  parties.  Had  the  enemy  been  allowed  time  to 
deliver  their  fire,  the  cavalry  would  have  been  prostrated,  and  that  event  would 
have  brought  destruction  upon  the  whole  corps;  for  Tarleton  would  soon  have 
been  upon  the  infantry.  Nor  would  the  evil  have  stopped  there,  the  dispersion 
of  this  party  must  have  been  followed  by  that  of  all  the  detachments  on  their 
march  to  join  it.  It  is  appalling  to  follow  up  the  train  of  consequences. 

It  is  asserted  that  many  of  the  sufferers  endeavoured  to  stay  the  impending 
sword  by  the  most  earnest  professions  of  loyalty.  This  is  tnae,  and  easily  ac 
counted  for;  the  deception  had  only  been  detected  on  their  left,  the  Maryland 
troops  were  visible  to  no  others,  and  great  must  have  been  the  astonishment  of 
the  far  greater  number  of  the  party  at  such  an  unaccountable  assault.  Colonel 
Tarleton  relates,  that  some  of  the  fugitives  hurried  to  his  camp  exhibiting  their 
wounds,  with  a  grevious  complaint  against  the  cruelty  of  his  dragoons,  and 
that  this  was  the  first  explanation  given  him  of  the  firing  which  had  been 
heard  from  his  camp;  a  decisive  proof  that  the  unfortunate  loyalists  had  been 
sacrificed  by  fortune  not  less  to  his  safety,  than  to  that  of  his  enemy. 

\\it\i  regard  to  the  fate  of  these  unfortunate  men,  one  fact  never  has  been 
contested — that  the  firing  of  their  own  party  on  the  left  was  the  signal  for  their 
destruction.  Colonel  Lee  asserts  that  his  own  intention  was  to  make  the  dis 
covery  of  the  real  character  of  his  party  to  the  enemy,  and  urge  them  to  submit 
and  retire  to  their  homes  in  safety;  he  even  asserts  that  he  had  already  seized 
the  hand  of  Piles  and  was  commencing  the  explanation  when  die  firing  com 
menced.  General  Pickens  says  nothing  of  this  part  of  the  ruse  dc  guerre, 
practised  upon  the  loyalists;  and  by  referring  to  Colonel  Lce'soun  letter  of 
the2<3th,on  the  official  files,  we  are  induced  to  think  him  mistaken  in  his  recol 
lection,  since  he  only  says,  "The  legion  cavalry  passed  them  agreeably  to 
order,  as  if  British  troops.  I  did  this  that  no  time  might  be  lost  in  reaching 


.MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  455 

Colonel  Tarlrton,  the  enemy  discovered  their  mistake,  Sec."  But,  which  ever  CHAP. 
of  the  two  accounts  be  adopted,  it  is  obvious  that  no  present  mischief  was  meant  >^v^> 
to  the  loyalists;  and  but  for  their  unfortunate  fire  upon  the  rear  of  the  cavalry, 
they  would  either  have  been  made  prisoners,  or  passed  unmolested.  If  also,  it 
be  admitted,  that  the  cavalry  were  withheld  from  the  pursuit,  as  Colonel  Lee 
asserts,  there  will  be  added  another  strong  evidence  of  the  humane  intentions 
of  the  American  commanders.  On  this  point  however,  it  must  be  acknow 
ledged  there  hangs  some  obscurity ;  since  Pickens  in  his  official  letter  of  the  26th 
assigns  as  the  cause  why  they  did  not  immediately  proceed  against  Tarleton 
that  "unfortunately  the  dragoons  got  separated  from  us,  and  our  militia  could 
not  be  kept  from  firing.  This  brought  night  on  us,  &c." 

But,  notwithstanding  the  approach  of  darkness,  the  American  commander 
resolved  not  to  rest  until  he  had  thrown  himself  between  Tarleton  and  the 
approaching  reinforcements.  For  this  purpose,  the  detachment  was  ordered 
to  proceed  ;  and  a  place  of  encampment  being  selected,  three  miles  in  advance 
of  the  British  party,  Pickens  halted  for  the  night,  and  made  every  arrange 
ment  for  attacking  the  enemy  by  the  break  of  day.  Never  was  there  a  more 
fortunate  step  taken  than  this;  for,  one  mile  beyond  the  American  encamp 
ment,  Colonel  Preston,  with  300  respectable  followers,  had  halted  for  the 
night ;  and  at  small  intervals  beyond  him,  were  two  other  small  detachments  o 
about  100  each,  under  Majors  Winston  and  Armstrong.  To  have  conquered 
Tarleton,  would  have  entitled  Pickens  to  the  laurel,  but,  the  oaken  wreath  he 
unquestionably  earned  this  day.  Colonel  Tarleton  had  heard  of  the  approach 
of  these  small  parties,  and  was  at  that  moment  meditating  their  destruction. 
For  Pickens  to  have  added  to  the  two  fortunate  occurrences  already  related, 
the  third,  of  subduing  the  enemy  he  was  pursuing,  would  have  been  too  much 
good  fortune  to  be  comprised  within  a  single  circle  of  the  sun.  It  would 
have  ended  in  the  expulsion,  if  not  complete  reduction  of  Cornwallis'  army; 
for,  Tarlcton's  detachment  was  very  respectable,  comprising  all  the  cavalry  of 
the  British  army,  two  pieces  of  artillery,  and  250  infantry.  Its  construction 
was  strikingly  "similar,  though  not  equal  in  number,  to  that  \»  hich  he  com 
manded  on  the  day  of  the  Cowpens;  and  before  him  lay  about  250  of  the 
men  whose  prowess  he  had  once  so  severely  experienced,  and  under  one  of 
the  most  conspicuous  of  the  commanders  in  that  memorable  field.  Deprived 
of  his  cavalry,  and  of  so  large  a  portion  of  his  infantry,  Lord  Cornwallis  must 
have  attempted  a  retreat,  and  it  was  scarcely  possible  for  him  to  have  suc 
ceeded,  with  the  mounted  militia  swarming  around  him  in  all  directions, 

To  the  American  commander,  the  prospects  of  success  were  the  most  flatter 
ing  that  could   be  imagined.     He  had   250  excellent  bayonets — Lee's  and 


466  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  M'CalFs  cavalry  nearly  equalled  the  enemy's  in  number,  and  far  excelled  them 
mounting;  and  in  addition  to  the  300  marksmen  already  under  him,  he  \yas 
joined  that  night  by  Colonel  Preston's  command  of  360  more,  all  hardy  moun 
taineers,  and  the  most  expert  riflemen.  Thus,  he  counted  nearly  double  the 
numbers  of  his  enemy;  and  the  celerity  of  his  movements  might  have  stripped 
his  adversary  of  the  advantage  of  his  artillery.  A  rout  once  commenced,  not 
a  man  could  have  escaped  the  expert  horsemen  with  which  Pickeus'  arm j 
abounded. 

But,  fate  had  assigned  the  fall  of  Lord  Cormvallis  to  other  hands.  Tarleton 
had  no  suspicion  that  he  was  in  the  face  of  so  superior  an  enemy ;  and  had  such 
confidence  in  his  strength,  as  to  have  actually  draun  up  his  men  at  midnight, 
-intending,  by  a  circuitous  route,  to  strike  at  Preston,  whom  he  supposed  to  be 
still  in  his  encampment,  and  thus  to  have  placed  himself  in  a  situation,  from 
which  he  could  not  have  been  extricated — when  an  express  from  Lord  Cornwallis 
recalled  him  instantly  to  Hillsborough.*  The  British  commander,  it  has  been 
before  mentioned,  had,  on  that  day,  heard  of  the  advance  of  the  American 
army,  and  his  fears  were  all  awakened  for  the  safety  of  Tarleton's  detachment. 
Such  was  his  uneasiness  on  account  of  their  exposed  situation,  that  courier 
followed  courier  to  the  number  of  three,  to  hasten  their  return.  Colonel  Tarle 
ton  obeyed;  and  marched  off  with  such  precaution,  that  he  had  gained  an  hour 
and  a  half  upon  his  march,  before  his  movement  was  discovered  by  the 
American  centincls.  On  the  first  intimation  of  the  unwelcome  tidings,  the 
American  detachment  was  put  in  motion  ;  and  pursued  with  such  rapidity,  as 
to  reach  the  banks  of  the  river  just  as  the  enemy's  rear  gimrd  ascended  the 
opposite  shore.  The  artillery,  posted  on  an  eminence  commanding  the  ford, 
rendered  pursuit  in  that  direction  impracticable;  and,  to  ascend  the  river  and 
cross  it  at  the  nearest  place  \\here  it  was  passable,  would  give  the  enemy  an 
advantage  on  the  inarch,  which  could  not  again  be  redeemed,  before  he  would 
meet  with  the  support  which  would  certainly  be  marched  to  his  relief.  The 
conjecture,  in  this  respect  was  right,  for  a  strong  detachment  had  been  pushed 
forward  to  cover  the  retreat  of  Tarleton,  which  he  soon  met,  after  leaving  the 
banks  of  the  river  on  the  route  to  Hillsborough. 

The  events  of  this  day  present  a  striking  picture  of  the  uncertain  issue  of 
all  uiilitiary  movements.  Two  incidents,  not  at  all  connected  uiih  the  move 
ments  of  the  two  detachments,  and  which,  had  they  occurred  but  a  few 
minutes  later,  would  have  been  inconsequential — had,  at  two  several  times, 


*  Tarleton's  Camp,  233. 


r 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  45' 

saved  the  British  detachment,  when  unsuspicious  of  danger;  three  several  CHAP. 
corps  of  patriotic  citizens,  were  rescued  from  destruction,  when  least  appre-  y^^^. 
hensivc  of  it,  by  a  providential  event,  which  they  were  actually  ignorant  of; 
and  a  large  number  of  unfortunate  men  had  suffered  death,  or  mutilation, 
while  they  hailed  an  enemy  as  their  deliverers — and  that  too  from  hands 
which  were  raised  against  them,  without  a  previous  design,  and  contrary  to  the 
wishes  and  views  of  the  American  commanders.  The  tale  would  appear  like 
6ction  to  one  who  had  not  before  him  the  most  authentic  evidence  of  its  truth. ' 
Should  a  doubt  be  suggested,  so  far  as  it  varies  from  the  picture  of  the  same 
events  drawn  by  Colonel  Lee,  the  reader  will  recollect,  that,  that  writer  had 
not  before  him  the  official  correspondence  of  the  day;  and  being  himself  sub 
ordinate  in  command,  he  was  not  necessarily  privy  to  the  communications 
made  by  and  to  the  commanding  general,  or  the  commander  of  the  detach 
ment.  The  reader  must  not  be  misled  by  the  diminished  figure  given  to  his 
commander  on  the  colonel's  canvass;  for  Pickens  was  never  a  mere  nominal 
commander;  although  the  most  unaffected  and  unassuming  of  men,  he  was  an 
able  and  energetic  officer;  and,  although  the  suavity  of  his  manner  might  dis 
guise  his  character,  he  had  a  firmness  about  him  that  would  be  obeyed.  For 
the  light  in  which  he  was  viewed  by  the  commanding  general,  we  will  refer 
the  reader  to  die  following  extract: 


General  Greene  to  General  Pickenx, 

"CAMP  AT  DOBBINS'S,  February  2G/7/,  1781. 

"I  have  now  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  two  letters  of  the  23d, 
wherein  you  acquaint  me  with  the  surprise  of  a  British  picket,  by  Colonel 
jVI'Call,  and  another  of  the  26th,  with  intelligence  of  the  defeat  of  a  body  of 
lories  under  Colonel  Piles,  by  the  detachment  under  your  command.  It  gives  me 
infinite  pleasure  whenever  I  have  an  opportunity  of  expressing  my  thanks  to 
offcers  and  soldiers,  who  can  embrace  opportunities  of  ornamenting  their  fame 
by  serving  their  country.  The  affair  of  Colonel  M'Call  was  executed  with 
firmness  and  address,  and  discovered  a  spirit  of  enterprise  and  genius,  which  I 
shall  be  ever  happy  to  cherish. 

"The  defeat  of  the  tories  was  so  happily  timed,  and  in  all  probability  will  be 
productive  of  such  happy  consequences,  that  I  cannot  help  congratulating  you 
on  your  success.  My  warmest  thanks  are  due  to  you,  Colonel  Lee,  and  all  the 
officers  and  soldiers  under  your  command,  and  for  the  exertions  which  were 
made  to  bring  about  so  happy  an  event." 

58 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE 

• 

The  conjecture  of  General  Greene,  respecting  (he  effect  of  the  affair  of  Tiles 
upon  the  future  conduct  of  dig  loyalists  was  soon  verified.  \Vhen  the  detach 
ment  under  Pickens  crossed  the  IIa\v  and  was  penetrating  through  the  Fork, 
the  inhabitants  appeared  to  be  all  in  motion,  preparing  to  join  themselves  fo 
the  royal  army.  The  bleeding  fugitives,  who  soon  passed  their  doors,  convinc 
ed  them  the  service  was  attended  with  dangers  they  had  not  dreamed  of. 
From  that  day  they  ventured  no  more  beyond  their  own  thresholds  It  is  said 
indeed,  that  on  that  very  morning,  another  party  of  loyalists  haa  suffered  by 
mistake,  under  the  sabres  of  the  British  colonel.  The  assertion  appears  in  the 
annals  of  that  time,  and  has  been  copied  into  Ramsay  and  several  historians  of 
equal  authenticity.  Colonel  Tarleton  in  his  narrative,  has  furnished  a  very 
strong  corroboration  of  the  fact ;  for  he  takes  credit  for  having  dispersed  a 
body  of  rebels  on  his  route  from  Hillsborough ;  and  as  it  is  known  that  no 
party  of  rebels,  (unless  it  was  poor  O'Neal's  family  party)  had  been  dispersed 
on  that  day,  it  will  follow  that  either  the  mistake  must  be  admitted  to  have 
occurred,  or  the  colonel's  veracity  be  questioned.  That  such  an  event  did 
odcur  on  the  4th  of  this  month,  rests  on  unquestonable  authority.*  Cer 
tain  it  is,  that  from  this  time  all  the  British  commander's  efforts  to  rouse 
the  quailing  royalists,  was  like  "calling  the  spirits  from  the  vasty  deep."  They 
shrunk  away  at  the  recollection  of  these  disasters.  Nor  could  the  presence  of 
the  whole  royal  army,  which  was  advanced  a  few  days  after  for  their  pro 
tection,  dissipate  their  apprehensions  or  tempt  them  again  to  embody. 

As  soon  as  Colonel  Tarleton  had  rejoined  the  army,  Lord  Cornwallis 
prepared  once  more  for  active  operations.  He  quickly  detected  the  motives  of 
the  American  commander,  and  promptly  resolved  on  measures  to  counteract 
them.  \Vith  this  view,  he  abandoned  Hillsborough  on  the  26th,  and  pursuing  the 
same  route  on  which  Colonel  Tarleton  had  lately  operated,  threw  himself  across 
the  Haw,  and  took  post  on  the  27th,  near  Allemance  Creek,  one  of  the  principal 
streams  that  feed  that  river.  This  route  ran  nearly  parrallcl  to  that  of  the 
American  general ;  and  leading  directly  to  Salisbury,  was  well  chosen  to  coun 
teract  the  design  of  cutting  him  off  from  the  upper  country,  whilst  it  lead  him 
into  a  country  favourable  for  subsisting  his  troops,  and  to  a  position  well  calcu 
lated  to  cover  the  loyalists  in  the  Fork. 

This  very  skillful  movement  presented  to  the  American  general  three 
alternatives ;  either  to  offer  battle  to  his  antagonists  with  a  certainty  of  its  being 
accepted  ;  to  retreat  once  more  across  the  Dan,  and  leave  Lord  Cornwallis  the 


*  Letter  toSteubeo,  5th  March,  from  Colonol  YV.  4th  March. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE,  459 

undisputed  master  of  the  state ;  or  to  preserve  in  cutting  him  oft*  from  the  upper   CHAP. 
Counties,  by  advancing  still  further  on  the  route  by  Guilford  towards  Salis-  v^^-^, 
bury.     He  determined  on  the  latter,  but  it  was  a  movement  of  the  most  critical 
kind,  and  a   variety  of  precautions  were  necessary  to  strip  it  of  its  dangers. 
Slowly  therefore,  he  kept   pace  with  the  march  of  his  adversary,  carefully , 
avoiding  whatever  could  force  him  to  a  general  action,  and  equally  providing 
for  a  forward  or  retrograde  movement,  which  ever  way  his  adversary  should 
attempt  to  manoeuvre.     Proceeding  thus,  he  advanced  to  the  heights  between 
Reedy  Fork  and  Troublesome  Creek;  having  his  head-quarters  at  the  Speedwell 
Iron  Works  on  the  latter,  and  Boyd's  Mil!,  on  the  former  stream.    In  the  mean 
time  the  American  light  troops  were  hovering  close  around  the  enemy,  teazing 
him  ou  his  march,  pouncing  upon  his  foraging  parties,  intercepting  intelligence, 
beating  up  his  quarters,  and  wearing  out  his  light  troops  by  incessant  calls  u]K>n 
their  services.    . 

Colonel  Williams  in  discharge  of  the  duties  aligned  him,  had  ever  since  the 
29th,  been  constantly  employed  in  watching  the  movements  of  the  enemy ; 
always  maintaining  a  distance  proper  for  supporting  his  detachments,  and  equally 
proper  for  securing  the  support  of  the  main  army  if  requisite.  At  this  time  his 
command  was  manceuvcring  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Haw  River,  and  Pickens 
having  fallen  back  upon  the  advancing  of  the  British  army,  the  two  detach 
ments  now  threw  themselves  in  front  of  the  enemy,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
Allemnnce  Creek.  Their  force  by  the  accession  of  militia,  was  so  considerable, 
that  they  seriously  meditated  a  combined  attack,  on  the  morninjr  of  the  2d  of 
March.  Such  had  been  the  celerity  and  secrecy  of  the  movement  of  the  American 
detachments,  that  Lord  Cornwallis  was  conscious  of  their  presence,  onlv  by 
feeling  them,  (in  military  language)  throughout  the  night,  and  of  their  numbers, 
he  appears  to  have  been  wholly  uninformed.  Yet  they  did  not  amount  to  less 
than  thirteen  hundred  men.  With  cautious  steps,  Williams  had  c.pproached 
within  such  a  distance,  as  to  be  able  to  strike  the  meditated  blow  at  the  first  tap 
of  the  reveillee,  but  under  the  earnest  remonstrances  of  Colonel  Lee,  he  was 
induced  to  defer  the  attack  until  the  British  army  should  have  resumed  its 
march;  and  subsequent  occurrences  prevented  its  being  made  at  all.* 

Lord  Cornwallis  had  now  advanced  as  far  in  that  direction,  as  comported 
with  his  ulterior  views  ;  and  his  foraging  parties  in  the  morning  having  soon 
come  upon  the  centinels  of  his  enemy,  a  strong  party  under  Colonel  Tarleton, 
was  pushed  forward  to  disperse  or  drive  back  his  unwelcome  neighbours.  This 


»  Colonel  Lee,  1st  March,  17S1. 


460  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

brought  on  the  skirmish  of  Allcmance  Creek,  an  affair  which  Co'onel  Tarleion 
has  magnified  infinitely  beyond  its  real  importance,  and  which,  as  usual,  adds 
another  wreath  to  his  imperishable  honours.  We  are  surprised  to  find  in 
Colonel  Williams*  official  account  of  this  affair,  no  other  notice  of  his  splendid 
,  antagonist,  but  that  "Colonel  Tarlcton  appeared,  but  kept  at  a  due  distance." 

The  affair  was  thus.  Not  finding  the  enemy  in  motion,  as  he  expected, 
Williams  ordered  Colonel  Lee,  with  his  legion,  and  Major  Rowland's  rifle 
battalion,  to  advance  with  precaution,  and  ascertain  the  present  designs  of  the 
British  commander.  This  detachment  was  soon  after  joined  by  a  small  party 
of  mounted  riflemen  from  General  Pickens'  command.*  After  advancing 
about  a  mile,  Lee's  flank  was  fired  upon  by  a  party  of  the  enemy,  who  were 
silently  advancing,  with  the  same  views  as  themselves — that  is,  to  reconnoitre. 
The  fire  being  sudden  and  unexpected,  the  mounted  riflemen  were  at  first 
thrown  into  some  confusion,  but  soon  recovered,  dismounted,  and  prepared 
for  action.  In  the  mean  time,  the  legion  infantry  and  militia  on  foot,  were 
quickly  formed,  and  made  as  handsome  a  defence  as  could  have  been  desired. 
The  appearance  of  Tarleton,  at  this  junction,  plainly  pointed  out  to  Williams, 
that  a  reinforcement  was  at  hand,  and  he  drew  his  men  off,  without  sustaining 
any  material  loss — very  few,  not  more  than  three  of  the  Americans  fell,  and 
only  10  were  wounded.  Tarleton  acknowledges  a  loss  of  one  officer  and 
twenty  men  of  the  guards  killed  and  wounded;  but,  General  Greene  rates 
them  at  7  killed  and  40  wounded.  The  enemy  pursued  no  further,  and  AYil- 
liams  could  not  advance  upon  him  when  so  near  the  main  army.f 

The  position  in  which  Lord  Cornwallis  had  encamped  his  army,  was  in  the 
Fork  of  die  Ht.w  and  Deep  rivers,  at  the  point  of  concurrence  of  the  roads 
from  Salisbury,  from  Guil ford,  from  the  High  Rock  Ford,  from  Cross  Creek  and 
Ilillsborough.  Colonel  Tarleton,  who  seldom  seems  disposed  to  compliment 
his  commander,  remarks  on  this  movement — "That  if  General  Greene  lost 
the  confidence  of  his  friends,  by  quitting  North  Carolina,  when  pursued  by  a 
superior  force,  Earl  Cornwallis  likewise  relinquished  his  claim  to  the  supe 
riority  of  the  British  arms,  by  abandoning  Hillsborough  upon  the  return  of  the 
American  general  into  the  province."  Yet,  whoever  will  yield  a  candid 
examination  to  this  movement,  in  relation  to  all  its  motives  and  consequences, 
will  prouounce  it  one  of  the  most  masterly  measures  of  this  intricate  campaign. 
Besides  its  effect  in  counteracting  the  designs  of  the  American  commander,  as 
already  explained ;  whether  considered  with  a  view  to  attack  or  defence, 


»  O.  Williams,  2d  March,  178J.  ILetter  to  Steuben,  5tb  March.  1781. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  4G1 

advance  or  retreat,   it  exhibits  the  strongest  evidence  of  consummate  general-   CHAP. 
ship.      But,  its   distinguishing  excellence  was,  that   its   leading  object 
marked  by  the  most  specious  appearances,  whilst  it  covered  the  communication 
with  his  stores  at  Wilmington,  which  now  began  to  be  a  very  interesting  consi 
deration — for  hard  service  had  brought  distress  and  nakedness  also  into  his 
camp. 

But;  the  principal  object  of  the  movement  was,  to  draw  the  attention  of  the 
American  commander  another  way,  whilst  his  reinforcements  were  decoyed 
into  striking  distance,  and  both  they  and  the  arms  they  were  guarding,  exposed 
to  a  sudden  and  unlocked  for  blow ;  and  the  stratagem  was  not  far  from 
succeeding,  for  Colonel  Campbell  was,  at  this  time,  far  advanced  on  his 
march  to  Taylor's  Ferry,  and  on  his  arrival  at  that  place  on  the  3d  of  the 
month,  hearing  that  Lord  Cornwallis  had  abandoned  Hillsborough,  and  was 
on  his  march  for  Salisbury,  or  Cross  Creek,  Campbell  immediately  crossed  the 
river,  and  took  the  direct  route  for  Hillsborough.  Generals  Butler  and  Law- 
son  also,  who  would  otherwise  have  marched  up  the  north  side  of  the 
Roanoke,  were  induced  to  advance  with  their  reinforcements  of  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia  militia,  by  the  same  route.  As  due  notice  of  their  hav 
ing  adopted  this  course  was  communicated  to  General  Greene,  it  was  still  in 
his  power  to  have  obviated  the  danger,  by  timely  orders  to  recross  the  river 
and  ascend  on  its  left  bank ;  but,  so  anxious  was  he  now  for  the  early  arrival 
of  his  reinforcements,  and  so  impressed  with  the  belief,  that  Lord  Cornwallis 
meditated  an  escape,  that  he  permitted  them  to  pursue  the  route  they  had 
adopted,  and  trusted  to  his  own  vigilance  to  protect  them  from  being  struck 
at.  Could  they  have  been  intercepted,  his  own  fate  was  scarcely  doubtful. 

Hence,  the  two  parties  under  Pickens  and  Williams,  were  kept  constantly 
hovering  around  the  enemy,  with  instructions,  often  reiterated,  to  strike  at  his 
flanks  should  he  leave  them  for  a  moment  exposed  ;*  whilst  the  main  army 
advanced  to  Boyd's  Mill  on  Reedy  Fork,  one  of  the  tributary  streams  of  the 
Haw,  and  lay  encamped  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  enemy's  position.  Thus, 
General  Greene  imagined,  that  the  light  companies,  by  .hanging  on  the  skirts 
of  the  enemy,  or  throwing  themselves  in  his  front,  could,  at  any  time,  im 
pede  his  march,  so  as  to  enable  the  main  army  to  avoid  an  action,  to  fly,  if 
necessary,  to  the  relief  of  the  re-enforcements,  or  to  approach  the  enemy's 
rear  should  he  attempt  a  retreat. 


*  Letter  to  Colonel  Williams,  March  4th,  from  Colonel  W.  March  5th. 


462  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  precautions,  Lord  Cornwallis  was  near  eluding 
vigilance  of  his  adversary,  and  striking  a  blow,  from  which  it  would  have 
been  difficult  for  the  American  army  to  have  recovered. 

Having  now  occupied  his  position  for  six  days,  and  amused  his  importunate 
attendants  with  repeated  demonstrations  on  the  road  to  Cross  Creek,  so  as  to 
draw  their  attention  that  way,  he  suddenly,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  when 
the  two  American  commanders  least  expected  it,  and  when  the  reinforcement 
under  Campbell,  with  thirteen  waggons  1«  a-led  with  arms,  had  already  passed 
Hillsborough  on  their  way  to  the  High  Rock  Ford,  broke  up  his  camp,  and 
pushed  with  great  rapidity  for  that  pass.  Williams  lay  that  night  on  the 
enemy's  left,  on  a  road  leading  to  the  same  point,  and  nearly  parallel  to  that 
of  the  enemy's  march ;  and  as  soon  as  it  was  discovered  that  the  enemy  had 
decamped,  every  nerve  was  strained,  first  to  communicate  the  intelligence  to 
the  commanding  general  then  encamped  at  Boyd's  Mills,  and  then  to  throw 
themselves  in  front  of  the  advancing  enemy.  The  route  of  both  the  com 
petitors  in  the  race,  led  to  Wetzel's  Mills,  across  the  Reedy  Fork,  and  the  roads 
united  a  small  distance  to  the  southward  of  that  stream.  The  American  de 
tachments  gained  the  point  of  concurrence  first;  but,  they  were  so  closely 
pursued  by  the  enemy,  that  they  were  obliged  to  cover  their  rear  while 
making  the  passage  of  the  creek,  by  parties  of  riflemen  under  command  of 
Colonels  Preston  and  Campbell.  This  brought  on  the  skirmish  of  WetzelFs 
Mills,  in  which,  as  usual,  Colonel  Tarleion  has  slain  his  thousands,  and  which 
Colonel  Lee  describes  with  a  variety  of  amusing  little  incidents,  but  with  sur 
prising  general  inaccuracy.  It  is  always  a  relief  to  us,  to  be  able,  on  these 
occasions,  to  resort  to  the  narrative  of  Colonel  Otho  Williams  ;  it  is  illuminated 
by  the  touches  of  genius,  and  equally  conspicuous  for  its  perspicuity,  and  for 
the  air  of  modesty  and  authenticity,  with  which  it  is  delivered. 

If  the  reader  will  peruse  the  narrative  of  this  event,  as  furnished  by  Colonel 
Lee,  he  will  find  that,  as  usual,  his  commander  is  thrown  in  the  back  ground, 
whilst  his  own  full  length  portrait  fills  up  half  the  canvass.*  The  ground  of 
the  picture  represents  a  surprise  upon  Williams,  and  the  retreating  army 
covered  by  Colonels  Lee  and  Clarke.  If  he  will  then  compare  it  with  the 
subjoined  letter,  he  will  find  that  Clarke  is  substituted  for  Colonel  William 
Campbell,  and  Colonel  Preston;  and  that  Colonel  Washington,  and  not 
Colonel  Lee,  covered. the  rear  of  the  army — that  so  far  was  Williams  from 
being  surprised,  that  the  enemy  were  discovered  when  yet  two  miles  off,  and 


*  Lee's  Memoirs,  vol.  1,  p.  323. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  463 

that  Colonel  Lee's  services  are  not  noticed  on  that  day,  unless  it  be  under  the    CHAP. 
general  observation,  that  the  enemy  were  "  a\ved  by  the  cavalry" — an  obser-  ^^^, 
vation  in  which  Colonel  Washington,  who  ranked  Colonel  Lee,  had  at  least 
an  equal  right  to  participate : 


Colonel  Williams  to  General  Greene. 
CAMP  NEAR  THE  OLD  BRIDGE,  ON  THE  HAW  RIVER,  1th  March,  1781. 

9 

DEAR  GENERAL, 

"  Early  yesterday  morning,  I  detached  an  officer  with  a  small  party, 
designing  under  cover  of  the  fog,  to  have  surprised  and  brought  off  one  of  the 
enemy's  parties  stationed  at  a  mill  about  a  mile  from  their  camp.  Soon  after, 
I  was  informed  by  one  of  my  reconnoitering  officers,  that  the  enemy  had 
decamped  early  in  the  morning,  and  had  taken  a  route  leading  to  my  left. 
We  were  instantly  in  motion — they  had  approached  within  two  miles  of  our 
position,  and  their  intention  was  manifestly  to  surprise  us.  I  immediately 
ordered  the  troops  to  march  to  Wiley's  [Wetzeirs]  Mills ;  and  soon  after,  was 
informed  by  two  prisoners,  that  the  enemy  were  marching  for  the  same  place 
on  a  road  parallel  to  that  in  which  we  were.  We  annoyed  them  by  light 
flanking  parties,  and  moved  on  briskly  to  the  mill ;  but,  were  so  closely  pressed 
by  Colonel  Webster's  brigade,  and  Colonel  Tarleton's  legion,  that  1  found  it 
absolutely  necessary  to  leave  a  covering  party  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Preston.  The  rest  of  the  troops  passed  the  Reedy  Fork,  and  formed  on  the 
north  side  without  interruption.  Very  soon  after,  a  brisk  fire  began  on 
Colonel  Preston's  party,  which  they  returned  with  great  spirit.  In  the  mean 
time,  Colonel  Campbell,  who  had  previously,  in  concert  with  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Washington,  served  as  a  cover  to  the  retiring  troops,  passed  the  creek 
above  the  mill.  The  ground  on  this  side  being  very  unfavourable,  I  waited 
only  till  Colonel  Preston  crossed,  and  then  ordered  the  troops  to  retire ;  the 
enemy  pursued  some  distance;  but,  receiving  several  severe  checks  from 
snKill  covering  parties,  and  being  awed  by  our  cavalry,  he  thought  proper  to 
halt.  We  continued  to  retire  about  five  miles,  where  we  encamped,  and  were 
refreshing  ourselves,  when  Major  Burnett  delivered  the  instructions  from  you, 
which  induced  me  to  cross  the  Haw  river,  and  take  post  here.  Our  loss  is 
very  inconsiderable;  very  few  were  killed,  and  most  of  our  wounded  were 
brought  off." 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

It  was  not  until  after  Colonel  Williams  had  taken  his  post  on  the  north  east 
bank  of  the  Haw  River,  that  he  became  possessed  of  the  information  necessary 
to  point  out  the  real  object  of  this  movement  of  the  enemy.  It  then  became 
manifest,  that  the  object  of  the  British  commander  was,  to  push  past  the  detach 
ment  under  Williams,  and  strike  at  a  much  more  important  object  then  nearly 
in  his  reach — to  wit,  the  detachment  and  escort  approaching  under  Colonel 
Richard  Campbell  of  the  Virginia  line,  and  the  two  detachments  of  militia, 
one  from  Virginia  under  Lawson,  and  anodier  from  North  Carolina  under 
Butler.  But,  the  activity  of  the  American  commander,  snatched  the  prize 
from  the  grasp  of  the  enemy,  when  it  appeared  to  be  almost  in  his  possession. 

The  moment  intelligence  was  received  at  head  quarters,  that  the  British 
army  was  pushing  for  the  High  Rock  Ford,  the  American  army  was  put  in  mo 
tion,  to  anticipate  the  views  of  the  enemy;  but,  the  morning's  march  gained  on 
.Williams,  and  the  rapidity  of  his  movements,  now  rendered  it  dangerous  to 
return  by  the  direct  route,  as  the  enemy  might  be  upon  the  rear  of  the  army, 
before  the  baggage  and  stores  'could  make  good  the  passage  of  the  river. 
This  obliged  the  American  general  to  make  a  push  for  another  ford  higher  up 
the  same  stream,  and  some  miles  nigher;  while  his  light  companies  under 
Williams  crossed  it  at  the  nearest  point  to  their  position,  and  by  inarching  up 
while  the  main  army  descended  the  left  bank  of  that  stream,  they  formed  a 
junction  at  the  High  Rock  Ford.  These  well  concerted  movements  succeeded 
effectually;  and  when  the  British  general  reached  the  road,  on  which  he 
expectsd  to  intercept  his  adversary,  and  force  him  to  action  to  protect  his 
advancing  reinforcements,  or  to  cut  him  off  from  them,  and  conquer  the  whole 
in  detail — he  had  the  mortification  to  find  that,  having  gained  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  river,  the  two  divisions  of  the  American  army  would  soon  form  a 
junction  for  the  protection  of  their  reinforcements,  with  the  secure  possession  of 
the  advantage  of  occupying  the  river  bank,  to  oppose  his  passage.  After  this 
movement,  lie  despaired  of  ever  out-generalling  his  adversary;  and  not  daring 
to  attempt  the  perilous  expedient  of  a  retreat  to  Wilmington,  or  expose  him 
self  to  the  censure  of  abandoning  the  contest,  he  sullenly  retired  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  other  branch  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  and  devoted  all  his  attention 
to  refreshing  his  troops,  and  preparing  them  for  a  desperate  effort  against  the 
whole  united  force  of  his  enemy,  for  which,  he  now  foresaw  an  oportunity 
would  be  offered  him.  There  was  an  admirable  boldness  in  this  decision,  but 
it  was  putting  every  thing  to  hazard  on  a  single  cast,  and  could  his  adversary 
have  commanded  one  half  the  resources  that  had  been  promised  him,  the  sur 
render  of  Yorktown  must  now  have  been  anticipated. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  469 

But  full  to  the  brim  as  had  been  the  cup  of  mortification,  that  his  adversary   CHAP. 
had  been  compelled  to  receive,  there  werestiJl  many  disappointments  awaiting, 
the  American  commander. 

On  all  sides  his  promised  re-enforcements  melted  into  visions.  The  whole 
state  of  North  Carolina  at  this  time  had  but  thirty  men  with  the  army,  ths 
gallant  Colonel  Campbell,  who  had  promised  a  re-enforcement  of  one  thou- 
sandvhardy  mountaineers,  flushed  with  the  capture  of  an  entire  army  on  King's 
Mountain,  had,  almost  desperate  with  mortification,  presented  himself  with  only 
sixty  followers.  And  such  wras  the  singular  combination  of  difficulties  which 
pressed  upon  the  American  commander  at  this  time,  that,  weak  and  wan 
ing  as  his  force  was,  he  was  obliged  to  detach  some  of  his  most  faithful  followers 
on  distant  services,  and  to  dismiss  others,  or  disband  his  army. 

From  the  time  that  General  Pickens  joined  General  Morgan,  it  has  been 
seen,  that  he  had  never  rested  a  day.  Most  of  the  officers  and  men  under 
him,  had  been  engaged  in  the  most  active  services  ever  since  the  fall  of  Charles 
ton.  In  all  this  time,  they  had  received  neither  clothing  nor  pay,  and  came 
into  service  mounted  at  their  own  expense.  They  were  not  of  that  class  of 
men,  who  can  minister  to  their  own  wants,  by  invading  the  comforts  of  others ; 
most,  if  not  all  of  them  were  men  of  respectable  connexions  ...id  comfortable 
property.  But  their  condition  now  was  scarcely  to  be  tolerated ;  they  had  not 
the  clothing  necessary  to  common  decency.  Yet  no  one  deserted,  no  one 
murmured,  but  foregoing  the  privilege  of  volunteers,  they  resisted  the  examples 
of  hundreds,  who  daily  came  and  went  as  they  pleased,  setting  authority  at 
nought ;  and  never  winced  from  their  duty,  even  in  the  midst  of  retreat,  pri 
vation  and  suffering.  At  length,  however,  their  commander  could  not  forbear 
calling  the  attention  of  the  commanding  general,  to  their  claims  and  sufferings. 
In  the  neighbourhood  of  their  friends,  their  tattered  wardrobes  miirht  be  re- 

CJ  '  O 

plenished,  but  from  any  other  quarter,  the  prospect  was  still  far  distant,  if  not 
hopeless.  Yet  no  demand  for  a  discharge  was  hinted  at ;  but  the  obvious  ne 
cessity  of  their  return  at  this  time,  could  not  be  resisted. — The  enemy  were 
embodying  the  negroes  in  South  Carolina  into  regiments,  and  appearances  on1 
the  frontier  threatened  a  serious  invasion  from  the  Indians:  not  only  their 
apprehensions,  but  those  of  the  commanding  general  were  seriously  awakened 
for  the  fate  of  their  familes  and  connexions;  and  General  Pickens  was  ordered 
to  repair  with  his  followers  to  the  back  parts  of  South  Carolina,  to  protect  thr 
whigs,  supprcssthc  loyalists,  and  co-operate  with  General  Sumptcp  in  the  active- 
enterprises  in  which  that  indefatigable  patriot  was  at  this  time  engaged. 

This  was  the  only  militia  force  which  General  Greene  as  yet  ever  had  undtr 
him,  on   whose   services   he  could  venture  to  calculate  from  day  to  day  :  au<i 

59 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CIIAP.  the  only  consoling  circumstance  attending  their  departure,  was,  that,  being  all 
^-s^-^/ mounted,  to  be  relieved,  at  this  time,  from  subsisting  their  horses,  was  no  in 
considerable. object.  So  completely  had  the  country  been  foraged  by  the  two 
armies,  that  it  was  scarcely  any  longer  practicable  to  find  the  necessary  food 
for  the  horses  of  the  regular  cavalry — the  officers,  and  the  baggage.  So 
severely  had  this  difficulty  begun  to  press  upon  the  army,  that  General  Greene 
had  been  compelled  to  call  together  the  militia  then  in  service,  almost  all  of 
whom  had  come  out  mounted,  and  earnestly  to  solict  them  to  relinquish  their 
horses,  to  have  them  conveyed  under  guard  to  a  place  where  they  could  be 
subsisted,  and  to  serve  on  foot;  pointing  out  to  them,  that  his  regular  cavalry 
being  superior  to  that  of  the  enemy,  they  would  be  safe  under  its  protection  ; 
and  if  they  persisted  in  retaining  their  horses,  the  horses  must  either  perish  for 
want,  the  riders  abandon  the  army,  or  the  army  abandon  the  country.  At  first 
the  measure  appeared  to  be  acquiesced  in  with  cheerfulness ;  but,  to  men  who 
confided  much  for  their  safety  in  the  speed  of  their  horses  and  their  own  skilful 
Use  of  them,  and  who  were  not  at  all  habituated  to  marching  under  the  burthen 
of  a  rifle  and  a  knapsack,  the  change  soon  became  irksome  and  disgusting. 
There" was  then  no  alternative  left  but  to  let  them  depart,  and  in  a  very  short 
time  the  army  \.  as  left  without  a  mounted  militiaman. 

Yet,  this  was  not  the  greatest  sacrifice  to  which  the  American  general  was 
called  upon  to  submit  at  this  time.  It  is  not  generally  known,  that  it  was  hi 
the  midst  of  the  busy  scene  we  have  been  relating,  that  the  negotiation  for  the 
exchange  of  prisoners  in  the  southern  department  was  carried  on.  The  ori 
ginal  instructions  to  Colonel  Carrington  for  this  purpose,  dated  March  the  llth, 
are  before  us.  The  negotiation  was  first  commenced,  whilst  the  army  lay  at 
Halifax  Old  Court  House;  but  was  then  broken  off,  because  the  British  commis 
sioner  insisted  on  considering  paroled  privates  as  prisoners  of  war,  to  favour 
their  practice  of  exacting  paroles  of  all  the  militia  in  the  country.  The  ne 
gotiation  was  renewed  and  finally  adjusted  between  Colonel  Carrington  on  the 
American  side,  and  Captain  Frederick  Cormvallis,  on  that  of  the  British,  at  a 
subsequent  meeting,  held  on  the  Pee  Dee,  on  the  8th  May. 

The  full  bearing  of  this  convention,  upon  the  American  cause,  at  that  time 
has  never  been  duly  considered,  or  rather  not  considered  at  all.  Yet  it  deserves 
to  be  estimated  among  the  most  magnanimous  actions  of  that  day.  The  most 
obvious  supposition  is,  that  such  a  convention  must  be  reciprocal  and  equal  in 
its  ad  vantages;  that  if  the  one  side  derived  from  it  an  accession  of  strength,  the 
other  must  be  equally  benefited.  But  it  was  quite  otherwise,  the  British 
troops  returned  to  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  and  the  American  troops  to  their 
firesides :  their  term  of  service  had  expired  in  captivity.  "With  this  obvious 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  47* 

disadvantage  before  him,  pressed  on  all  sides  by  difficulties,  the  country's  fall,   CHAP. 
and  his  o\vn  reputation  poised  on  a  blow  very  soon  to  be  struck,  the  American  ^^^^ 
commander  did  not  hesitate  when  the  opportunity  presented  itself,  of  endea 
vouring  to  rescue,  the  faithful  soldier  from  the  gloomy  prisonship.     The  American 
army  finally  obtained  some  officers  from  the  exchange,  but  no  men. 

But,  where  were  the  tens  of  thousands  expected  from  Virginia  ?  They  were 
with  the  tale  that  it  told — with  the  cloud  that  has  passed  by.  The  enemy 
turned  his  back  upon  Virginia,  and  the  gathering  thousands  returned  to  the 
plough.  A  large  portion  of  the  volunteers  under  Stevens,  continued  faithful 
to  their  engagement;  but,  the  whole  number  of  militia,  who  accompanied  the 
army  to  Guilford,  including  those  from  both  states,  only  amounted  to  two 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-three — of  which,  Virginia  furnished  sixteen 
hundred  and  ninety-three — and  North  Carolina  one  thousand  and  sixty. 
The  season  of  the  year,  as  has  been  observed,  was  exceedingly  unfavourable  to 
the  collection  of  the  militia  generally;  it  was  not  "  the  time  when  kings  go  to 
war."  But,  the  disappointment  in  not  receiving  the  re-enforcement  expected 
from  the  mountains,  was  attributed  to  another  cause.  The  inhabitants  had 
just  returned  from  an  expedition  against  the  Indians,  conducted  by  Colonel 
Arthur  Campbell.  The  tawny  aborigines,  as  had  been  invariably  the  case, 
had  advanced  upon  the  frontiers  the  moment  the  British  army  got  in  motion  ; 
and,  as  had  also  invariably  been  the  case,  had  painfully  atoned  for  their 
wonted  barbarities.* 

A  few  days  after  the  return  of  the  army  across  the  Dan,  General  Greene 
received  a  communication  from  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell,  announcing  his 
success  in  this  expedition,  and  intimating,  that  the  Indians  were  desirous  of 
submitting;  and,  of  negotiating  a  treaty  with  any  one  who  should  be  duly 
authorized  to  treat  with  them.  As  it  was  not,  at  that  early  day,  clearly 
ascertained  in  whom  the  power  existed  to  conduct  such  a  treatv,  General 
Greene  concluded,  that  the  exigency  of  the  case  would  sanction  him  in  nomi 
nating  commissioners  for  that  purpose;  it  appertained  to  the  conduct  of  the 
war;  and  he  represented  the  United  States  in  its  belligerent  capacity.  Under 
this  impression,  on  the  20th  February,  he  issued  a  commission"  to  William 
Christian,  William  Preston,  Arthur  Campbell,  and  Joseph  Martin,  of  the 
state  of  Virginia ;  and  to  Robert  Sevier,  Evan  Shelby,  Joseph  Williams,  and 
John  Sevier,  of  the  state  of  North  Carolina,  "  to  enter  into  a  treaty  for  res- 
.toring  peace,  and  establishing  the  limits  between  those  two  states  and  the 


Appendix  C. 


472  MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.    Indian  tribes  ;"  but  with  the  wary  precaution  of  limiting  their  powers  by  the 
of   those    states;    and  the 'duration  of  the  commission,  by  the  will  of 
the  congress,  or  the  commander  in  chief. 

The  original  commission  is  now  before  us ;  and  under  it  was  concluded 
that  treaty,  which  took  place  the  ensuing  year ;  still,  however,  the  Indians 
farther  south  continued  hostile ;  and  the  attention  of  General  Pickcns  had 
been  particularly  directed  to  that  quarter,  when  he  left  the  army  at  this 
period.  It  was  not  long  after  his  return  to  Carolina,  -before  his  experience  in 
Indian  warfare  was  called  into  requisition,  and  rendered  the  most  signal  ser 
vices. 

For  the  fourth  time  had  General  Greene  ROW  eluded  his  pursuers,  and 
found  security  from  a  superior  enemy,  behind  the  shelter  of  a  rapid  river ; 
still,  that  enemy  might  brave  this  disadvantage,  and  attempt  the  passsge  of 
the  river- — or,  might  aim  a  blow  at  his  reenforcements,  by  crossing  it  lower' 
down.  Lord  Cormvallis  appeared  to  pause  awhile  upon  the  alternative  ;  but, 
finally,  adopted  the  resolution  to  move  down  towards  Deep  River;  in  the  mean 
time,  every  exertion  had  been  made  to  hasten  on  the  re-enforcements,  by 
forced  marches,  and  by  divesting  them  of  the  baggage  that  impeded  their 
progress.  The  latter  was  ordered  to  file  off  to  the  right  of  the  line  of  march 
of  the  advancing  parties,  while  the  troops  hastened  on  to  effect  a  junction 
at  the  High  Rock  Ford.  By  the  llth,  this  long  lookcd-for  event  was  consum 
mated  ;  and,  although  the  circuitous  route  assigned  to  the  baggage  caused  some 
delay,  by  the  12th,  General  Greene  was  prepared  to  advance  upon  the  enemy, 
and  ofler  him  the  long  expected  battle.  With  this  view,  he  moved  down  and 
encamped  at  Guilford  Court  House  on  the  14th.  As  soon  as  the  junction 
was  effected  with  the  detachment  under  Williams,  that  command  was  dis 
solved,  with  the  highest  and  best  merited  encomiums  on  the  spirit  and  ability 
xvith  which  it  had  discharged  its  laborious  and  important  duties.  Colonel 
Lee  was  then  detached,  with  orders  to  hang  upon  one  wing  of  the  enemy, 
whilst  Washington  watched  the  other.  On  the  13th,  orders  were  issued  to  all 
the  detachments  to  join  the  army  at  Guilford;  and  on  the  next  day,  the  order 
of  battle  was  communicated  to  the  officers,  and  the  day  spent  in  a  critical 
survey  of  all  the  advantages  of  the  ground  selected  for  the  purpose  a  month 
before.  Never  was  conflict  prepared  for  with  more  coolness  by  the  one  party, 
or  more  anxiously  desired  by  the  other. 

Yet,  on  the  part  of  the  American  commander,  it  was  the  dictate  of  ncces-. 
sity,  though  that  necessity  was  not  imposed  by  his  adversary.  He  wras  stiH 
much  inferior  to  the  enemy  in  disciplined  troops  ;  and  he  knew  how  precarious 
was  the  denendance  on  militia  at  the  push  of  the  bayonet.  But,  greater  cvifs 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE.  470 

threatened  him,  than  he  had  reason  to  apprehend  from  the  issue  of  the  battle.  CHAP. 
No  more  re-enforcements  of  regulars  could  be  expected — he  had  waited  long,  ^^^ 
and  been  flattered  with  a  thousand  hopes,  before  he  could  draw  together  the 
present  moderate  re-enforcements  of  militia;  the  term  of  service  of  these  was 
rapidly  passing  away  ;  the  volunteers  had  engaged  but  for  six  weeks ;  and 
when  they  should  leave  him,  where  was  his  dependence?  Nor  was  this  all ; 
the  country  immediately  around  him,  was  now  so  exhausted,  that  it  could  not 
long  continue  the  theatre  of  war.  The  enemy  had  held  untouched  the 
friendly  country  in  his  rear,  from  which  he  could  still  draw  considerable  sup 
plies.  He  had  not  been  compelled  to  waste  his  resources  upon  swarms  of 
mounted  men,  continually  coming  and  going,  and  not  to  be  subjected  to  the 
restraints  of  discipline.  He  had'  even  been  able  to  collect  magazines  at  a  remote 
place  in  the  fork;  and  it  was  rumoured,  that  the  loyalists  were  once  more 
assembling  in  the  vicinity  of  Ramsay's  Mills  on  the  Deep  River.  For  these 
reasons,  General  Greene  resolved  to  give  the  enemy  battle,  in  hopes  of  crip 
pling  him  by  means  of  the  militia,  whilst  he  covered  their  retreat  with  his 
regulars;  but  resolved,  not  to  risk  the  security  of  the  latter,  except  from  the 
most  urgent  necessity,  or  with  the  most  flattering  prospects  of  advantage ; 
and  in  the  mean  time  he  dispatched  Colonel  Malmady,  who  had  recently 
joined  him  with  a  few  North  Carolina  troops,  to  descend  the  left  bank  of  the 
Haw — make  a  sudden  incursion  into  the  fork — possess  himself  of,  and  re 
move  or  destroy  the  enemy's  inng-izines,  and  disperse  the  loyalists. 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter  to  Governor  Jefferson,  of  the  10th  of  this 
month,  selected  from  many  others,  will  exhibit  a  succinct  view  of  the  feelings, 
embarrassments  and  motives,  which  influenced  the  conduct  of  the  writer  at 
this  time  : — "  Every  day  has  filled  me  with  hopes  of  an  augmentation  of  my 
force;  the  militia  have  flocked  in  from  various  quarters ;  but,  they  come  and 
go  in  such  irregular  bodies,  that  I  can  make  no  calculation  on  the  strength  of 
rny  army,  or  direct  any  future  operations  that  can  ensure  me  success.  At  this 
time,  I  have  not  above  8  or  900  of  them  into  the  field ;  yet,  there  have  been 
upwards  of  5000  in  motion  in  the  course  of  four  weeks.  A  force,  fluctuating 
in  this  manner,  can  promise  but  slender  hopes  of  success  against  .an  enemy  in 
high  discipline,  and  made  formidable  by  the  superiority  of  their  numbers. 
Hitherto,  I  have  been  obliged  to  effect  that  by  finesse,  which  I  dare  not 
attempt  by  force.  I  know  the  people  have  been  in  anxious  suspense,  \\  aiting 
the  event  of  a  general  action.  But,  let  the  consequence  be  what  it  may, 
nothing  shall  hurry  me  into  a  measure  that  is  not  suggested  by  prudence,  or 
dictated  by  the  interests  of  the  southern  department. 


MAJOR  GENERAL  GREENE. 

CHAP.  «  General  Caswell  is  on  his  way  with  a  considerable  force  of  the  Carolina 
militia;  and  Colonel  Campbell,  with  the  Virginia  regulars, I  expect,  will  be  up 
in  a  few  days.  When  this  force  arrives^  I  trust  I  shall  be  able  to  prescribe  the 
limits  of  the  enemy's  depredations,  and  ai  least  dispose  of  the  army  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  incumber  him  with  a  number  of  wounded  men." 

There  was  one  consideration  which  was  decisive  with  General  Greene  for 
hazarding  an  action  at  this  tiniCi  With  the  superiority  which  he  possessed  in 
the  quality,  rather  than  the  numbers  of  the  cavalry,  and  the  precautions  which 
he  had  resolved  to  adopt,  both  for  action  and  retreat,  (having  the  unrestrained 
choice  of  ground  for  both,)  he  was  morally  certain,  that  whatever  might  be  tho 
behaviour  of  his  militia,  he  could  not  be  exposed  to  the  evils  of  a  general  rout. 
But  he  still  flattered  himself,  from  the  quality  of  a  great  part  of  the  troops  of 
that  description,  and  the  talents  of  some  of  their  leaders,  that  they  would  de 
liver  the  enemy  crippled,  disordered  and  worn  dowii  with  fatigue,  into  the 
hands  of  his  continentals.  But  at  die  worst,  a  defeat  he  was  resolved  should 
only  be  a  partial  evil. — To  his  adversary  it  could  scarcely  eventuate  in  less 
than  total  ruin. 

"Nor  was  his  adversary  at  this  timeless  urged  by  inclination  than  necessity  to 
adopt  the  same  determination.  The  English  writers  of  the  day  observe,  that 
the  grevious  distress  of  the  army  were  now  become  nearly  insupportable,  un 
der  the  want  of  supplies  of  every  species.  And  that  "  he  had  now  arrived  at  a 
full  conviction,  that  nothing  less  than  a  clear  and  decided  superiority  in  arms, 
coulcl  answer  the  great  purpose  and  end  of  their  exceedingly  toilsome  and 
arduous  winter  campaign,  which  was  to  draw  forth  into  action,  the  supposed 
numerous  loyalists  who  inhabited  that  province."* 

.  *  Annual  Register,  l?Sl,  p.  65. 


47G 


APPENDIX    A. 


(See  page  223.) 


JL  HE  iirst  European  settlement  ever  made  on  the  North-American  continent,  was  made  in  South 
Carolina.  The  design  is  attributed  to  the  celebrated  Coligni  ;  and  the  object  was  to  secure  an 
assylum  to  religious  freedom.  During  the  persecutions  which  harassed  the  Calvinists  in  the 
reign  ef  Charles  the  Ninth  of  France,  Coiigni  conceived  the  project  of  establishing  a  retreat  for  his 
followers  in  America,  should  they  be  driven  by  the  legitimates  of  the  day,  from  the  confines  of  the 
old  world.  Charles  readily  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  Coligni,  to  promote  the  project ;  for, 
-whether  they  succeeded,  or  were  destroyed,  he  was  equally  relieved  from  a  class  of  men  whom  he 
hated  and  feared  ;  or,  at  least,  a  new  direction  would  be  given  to  the  enterprise  of  a  spirited  race, 
who  had  often  shown  themselves  terrible  in  their  civil  wars.  Charles  the  Second  of  England,  would 
seem  to  have  brought  with  him,  his  sentiments  on  the  same  subject,  from  France. 

Two  ships  were  furnished  Coligni  by  his  sovereign;  and  John  Ribaut,  an  experienced  navigator, 
at  the  head  of  a  select  band  of  soldiers,  and  voluntary  adventurers,  all  zealous  Calvinists,  set  sail 
from  France  on  the  ISth  February,  1562.  His  design  was,  to  strike  the  Santee,  then  called  the 
Jordan,  by  the  discoverer  Vasquez  Allayon;  but,  falling  too  far  to  the  south,  he  first  made  land 
south  of  the  river  St.  John's,  tlicn  named  by  him  the  river  of  Dolphins,  and  by  the  Spaniards  the 
river  St.  Augustin.  Proceeding  northerly  about  fifteen  league*,  he  discovered  another  river,  where 
Jie  landed,  erected  a  pillar  in  commemoration  of  his  taking  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name 
of  his  sovereign,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  the  River  May,  for  it  was  on  the  1st  day  of  that  month 
that  he  set  foot  on  the  land,  afterwards  distinguished'  as  French  Florid.",  as  the  whole  of  North 
America  seems  to  have  been  by  that  of  New  France.  This  is  said  to  be  the  river,  previously  named 
by  the  Spaniards,  San  JMuttco;  but  the  distance  agrees  very  neaily  with  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Mary's. 
Proceeding  still  northwardly  along  the  coast,  and  mistaking  many  inlets  for  risers,  which  he  named 
lifter  tin-  great  rivers  of  France,  Ribaut,  at  length,  reached  what  he  supposed  to  be  the  Jordan  ;  and, 
being  favourably  rereivod  by  the  natives,  he  proceeded  to  adopt  the  necessary  measures  to  accom 
modate  and  defend  their  little,  colony. 

The  place  where  llib-nit  made  this  establishment,  has  been  the  subject  of  some  difference  of 
opinion  among  writers.  The  geographer  Mr.  Morse  is  wholly  mistaken,  when  he  asset N,  that  it 
Vos  '*  at  the  mouth  of  the  Albeinnrfc  River  in  North  Carolina."  He  lias  been  led  into  the  em*r 


APPENDIX  A.  .  477 

by  copying  newart,  who  has  himself  been  misled  by  Oldraiion,  without  observing,  that  thfe  latter 
author  furnishes  the  means  of  detecting  the  mistake. 

The  words  of  Oldmixon  are,  "  At  the  mouth  of  Albemarle  River,  then  called  the  Great  River, 
the  port  being  safe  and  commodious,  he  built  a  fort,  which  he  called  Charles'  Fort,  and  gave  it  the 
name  of  Port  Royal,  in  32°  of  latitude,  bordering  on  Virginia,  now  North  Carolina. 

The  reference  here  to  the  latitude  of  the  place,  sufficiently  detects  the  error  with  regard  to  the 
identity  of  the  river.  For  the  Albemarle  in  North  Carolina,  lies  in  35*"*  30',  on  Oldmixon's  own 
map.  The  "  Grande  Rivere"  is,  in  fact,  in  the  latiude  32°,  as  laid  down  by  Charlevoix.  Whe 
ther  it  ever  bore  the  name  of  the  Albemarle,  we  know  not ;  yet,  that  name  may  have  been  given  it' 
by  the  Lord  Cardross,  when  he  made  his  settlement  at  Port  Royal. 

This  confusion  of  names  would  naturally  have  led  Oldmixon  into  the  error  ;  but,  still  it  is  unac 
countable,  that  he  should  have  noticed  but  one  Albemarle  on  his  map,  and  placed  Port  Royal  cor 
rectly  in  point  of  latitude. 

Chalmers,  ptirsuing  the  narrative  of  Charlevoix,  locates  Ribaut's  Fort,  called  fort  Charles,  on 
Edisto  Island,  or  an  Island  somewhere  near  the  mouth  of  that  river,  and  it  cannot  be  questioned, 
that  it  was  situate  somewhere  between  North  Edisto  and  Broad  River.  The  evidence  of  circumstances 
preponderates  in  favour  of  the  present  site  of  Beaufort.  For,  if  it  be  true,  and  every  thing  seems 
to  confirm  the  opinion,  that  it  was  built  "at  the  mouth  of  the  Grand  Riviere,  on  an  Island  with  a  safe 
and  commodious  port,"  and  the  name  of  Port  Royal  given  to  it,  we  have  the  evidence  of  names 
and  situation,  to  support  the  opinion  that  its  site  was  that  of  Beaufort.  The  name  of  Port  Royal  is 
ttill  retained,  and  the  name  of  Broad  River  is  but  the  translation  of  the  French  epithet,  "  Grand 
Riviere."  Besides  which,  it  is  well  known,  that  there  is  not  to  be  found  on  any  other  Island  extending, 
from  North  Edisto  to  Broad  River,  any  port  to  compare  in  excellence  and  depth  of  water  with 
Port  Royal  ;  and  the  latitude  agrees  exactly,  for  it  is  actually  situated  in  32°  12' and  should  be 
rather  farther  south,  than  farther  north,  to  agree  with  the  latitude  given  it  by  Ribaut. 

We  will  conclude  with  a  piece  of  evidence,  well  known  to  those  who  have  been  conversant  with 
the  southern  Indians,  who  were  compelled  to  retire  to  the  west  of  Georgia,  as  the  population  of 
South  Carolina  pressed  upon  them.  They  still  retain  the  tradition,  that  the  first  place  at  which  they 
ever  saw  the  whites,  was  at  Coosawhatchie  in  South  Carolina.  Now,  the  Coosawhatchie  River  is 
the  principal  stream  that  forms  the  Broad  River,  and  was  no  doubt  among  the  first  that  were  explored 
by  Ribaut?s  boat.  Nor  is  it  at  all  improbable,  that  the  whole  extent  of  the  stream  to  its  discharge 
into  the  ocean,  was  known  to  the  Indians  by  the  name  which  we  have  borrowed  from  them — the 
Coosawhatchie.  It  is  well  known  with  what  perfect  truth,  the  tradition  of  striking  events,  is  pre 
served  among  these  people. 

This  first  attempt  of  persecuted  man,  to  seek  an  assylum  in  the  new  world,  was  attended  with 
events  too  true  to  be  disputed,  and  yet  almost  too  tragical  to  be  credited.  They  present  a  striking 
Tiew  of  the  chivalrous  spirit  which  animated  the  reformers  of  that  day,  and  of  the  bloody,  unrelent 
ing  temper  with  which  they  were  pursued  by  religious  bigotry.  There  is  no  history  that  we  are 
acquainted  with  in  the  English  language,  which  has  presented  ail  account  of  those  events  as  they 
-  actually  occurred. 

The  summary  of  them  is  this  :  as  soon  as  Ribaut  had  provided  for  the  security  of  his  colony,  he 
set  sail  for  France,  to  report  his  progress,  and  bring  out  a  supply  of  utensils  and  of  colonists ; 
leaving  Captain  Albert  in  command  of  the  post.  When  Ribaut  arrived  in  France,  the  civil  war  had 
again  broken  out,  and  Coligni's  attention  was  of  necessity  engrossed  by  more  vital  objects.  It  was 
not  until  April  1 5G4,  that  he  was  enabled  to  resume  the  prosecution  of  this  colonizing  project.  It 
was  the  first  subject  on  which  he  addressed  the  king,  after  their  reconciliation,  and  Charles  again 

60 


178  .  APPEiNDIX  A. 

readily  honored  him  with  three  ships,  and  a  considerable  advance  of  money.  The  command  was 
given  to  Rene  dc  Laiidonniere,  and  the  object  of  the  voyage,  as  well  as  the  refutation  of  the  com 
mander  and  his  officers,  immediately  drew  together  a  crowd  of  volunteers,  many  of  them  of  the 
most  respectable  connexions.  In  June  this  expedition  reached  the  Florida  Coast,  and  when  ap 
proaching  Fort  Charles,  they  received  the  intelligence,  that  it  was  abandoned  and  the  colony  had 
put  to  sea  in  a  boat  constructed  by  themselves  for  the  purpose. 

It  is  probable  that  Laudonniere  distrusted  the  account  received  from  the  natives,  and  for  that  reason, 
rather  than  those  given  for  his  subsequent  measures,  resolved  to  establish  his  colony  at  the  river 
Mai,  at  which  he  had  recently  landed,  and  met  with  a  most  flattering  reception  from  the  natives. 

Thither,  however,  he  bent  his  course,  and  was  cheerfully  supported  by  his  men  in  this  change  of 
design,  for  the  unfortunate  reason,  that  they  thought  this  stream  communicated  with  the  country 
*"  where  there  was  gold."  Some  small  quantities  of  gold  and  silver,  pearls,  and  precious  stones,  had 
been  seen  among  the  natives,  and  they  had  pointed  to  the  south  west  as  the  region  from  which  it 
was  procured.  It  appeared  afterwards  to  have  been  obtained  from  Spanish  vessels  wrecked  ou  the 
Florida  coasts. 

Laudonniere  accordingly  landed  and  established  himself  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  Mai,  and 
constructed  there  a  fort,  which  he  named  Fort  Caroline,  destined  soon  to  be  the  scene  of  some  of 
the  bloodiest  events  recorded  in  history.  Whether  this  fort  was  built  on  the  St.  Mary's,  or  the 
St.  Ilia  (now  newly  named  the  Satilla)  river,  is  not  satisfactorily  ascertained.  But,  the  evidence 
la  in  favour  of  the  St.  Mary's,  and  would  point  to  the  first  bluff"  on  the  south  side  of  the  St.  Mary's. 
The  distance  of  the  river  Mai,  of  fifteen  leagues  from  the  St.  John's,  and  that  of  six  leagues  from  the 
ocean,  given  to  the  fort,  support  this  opinion ;  nor  does  there  appear  to  have  been  any  river  of 
magnitude  intervening  between  it  and  the  St.  John's.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  there  is  no 
river  given  between  the  river  Mai  and  the  Altamaha,  which  would  seem  to  point  to  the  St.  Ilia. 
But,  the  course  of  the  St.  Mark's,  which,  towards  its  source,  appears  to  proceed  from  the  quarter  to- 
which  the  Indians  directed  the  attention  of  the  French,  for  procuring  the  precious  metals,  supports 
the  opinion,  that  the  St.  Mary's  was  really  the  river  on  which  this  second  establishment  was  made. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  lute  of  Captain  Albert  and  his  associates  was  made  manifest ;  the  few  who- 
survived  of  them,  were  picked  up  ht  sea  and  carried  to  Europe.  Albert,  it  appears,  was  put  to 
death  bv  his  men  not  long  after  the  departure  of  Ribaut ;  and  as  the  only  account  we  have  of  his 
conduct  was  necessarily  received  from  them,  and  their  safety  depended  upon  justifying  that  act,  it  ought 
to  be  received  with  more  precaution  than  historians  have  discovered.  He  is  represented  as  having 
conducted  himself  arbitrarily  and  capriciously,  and  even  to  have  taken  the  lives  of  some  of  hk 
people,  without  cause  or  due  sanction.  At  length,  a  piece  of  tyranny  exercised  towards  one 
Lachan,  a  soldier,  whose  subsequent  conduct  proved  his  popularity  well  founded,  was  followed  by  a 
mutiny,  which  terminated  Alberts  life  and  the  hopes  of  the  colony.  One  Nicholas  Carre  was 
then  chosen  their  leader,  and  nothing  being  heard  of  Ribaut,  famine  and  disorganization  began  to 
threaten  them  with  destruction.  They  now  resolved  to  construct  a  vessel,  and  attempt  the  passage 
to  Europe,  without  chart  or  compass,  and  almost  without  provisions.  The  consequences  were 
inevitable.  After  suflering  the  last  extremity  of  hunger,  the  proposition  was  made  that  they  should 
cast  lots  to  determine  which  of  them  should  fall  a  sacrifice  for  the  subsistence  of  the  rest.  That 
the  proposition  should  be  acceded  to  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  Blen  have  often  submitted  under 
similar  circumstances;  and  the  hope,  which  ever  whispers  to  each  individual  that  he  will  escape. 
may  well  support  the  human  mind  in  submitting  fate  to  fortune.  But,  it  requires  no  common  effort 
of  self  devotion,  for  a  single  individual  to  make  a  willing  sacrifice  of  his  own  life  to  save  that  of  his' 
<x>mnanion.s  in  misfortune ;  yet,  Lachati  did  this  and  was  eaten.  He  bared  his  neck  to  the 


APPENDIX  A. 

knife,  and  died,  as  the  narrative  says,  without  a  struggle.  Nor  was  there  any  reason  to  suspect  im 
position,  since  the  more  probable  account  of  his  having  suffered  by  lot,  was  equally  at  the  command 
of  the  boat's  crew.  The  want  of  water  followed  the  want  of  food,  and  natural  death  had  greatly 
thinned  their  ranks  before  they  were  picked  up  and  transported  to  Europe. 

In  the  meantime,  intelligence  was  communicated  to  the  Spanish  monarch,  of  the  attempt  of  the 
.Hugonots  to  effect  a  settlement  on  the  Florida  coast.  The  annals  of  the  day  assert,  that  the  trea- 
rherous  Charles  himself  made  the  communication,  with  an  insinuation  of  his  utter  indifference  as  to 
the  fate  that  awaited  them.  A  Ilugonot  settlement  was,  to  their  most  Christian  and  most  Catholic 
majesties,  equally,  an  object  of  abhorrence. 

The  Spaniards  resolved  to  destroy  the  settlement ;  and  their  subsequent  conduct  will  prove,  that  it 
was  religious,  not  political  zeal,  which  kindled  the  flame  that  consumed  it. 

Laudonniere  was  indefatigable  while  he  remained  in  command  at  Fort  Caroline  ;  but,  his  industry 
was  unfortunately  applied  to  exploring  the  country  in  quest  of  the  precious  metals  ;  instead  of  forcing 
from  a  genial  soil  the  more  indispensable  articles  of  subsistence.  His  lieutenants  Oligni  and  Erlac, 
penetrated  the  forests  in  every  direction,  and  in  the  course  of  eighteen  months  appear  to  have  made 
excursions  throughout  the  interior  of  Florida,  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  even  to  the  lakes  that 
gives  rise  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  even  beyond  the  Apalachian  mountains.  Cut,  their  provisions  began  now 
to  fail,  as  the  articles  of  merchandize  which  procured  food  from  the  Indians,  were  totally  consumed. 
Vessel  after  vessel  had  been  dispatched  to  France  for  supplies,  but  none  had  yet  raturned.  His  com 
pany  also  had  become  mutinous  :  and  as  often  as  he  constructed  small  vessels  for  the  purpose,  of 
exploring  the  rivers,  of  collecting  provisions,  or,  if  necessary,  of  leaving  the  country,  they  were 
seized  upon  by  parties  of  mutineers,  some  of  whom  engaged  in  piratical  cruizes  against  the  Span- 
lards,  and  others  made  their  way  to  the  islands  and  to  Europe,  to  excite  a  clamour  against  the  con 
duct  and  the  views  of  their  commander.  Thus,  was  his  force  reduced  to  a  small  proportion  of  its 
original  numbers  ;  and  with  these  he  resolved  to  build  a  small  brigantine,  to  transport  himself  and 
them  to  France.  The  accidental  arrival,  and  very  liberal  conduct  of  the  English  Captain  Hawkins, 
put  it  in  his  power  to  procure  a  more  suitable  vessel  for  this  purpose,  and  to  furuish  and  equip  her  in 
a  manner  suitable  for  such  a  voyage  ;  but,  when  he  had  dismantled  nis  fort,  and  was  shipping  his 
men  to  depart,  Ribaut  made  his  appearance,  with  a  well  equipped  fleet  of  nine  sail  of  vessels,  some 
of  them  heavy  ships  of  war  ;  four  of  them  of  a  draft  of  water  which  would  not  admit  of  their  passing 
the  bar  of  the  river,  on  which  Laudonniere  had  established  himself. 

Mutual  explanation?,  to  their  mutual  satisfaction  soon  took  place  bcUveen'Laudonniere  and  Ribaut  ; 
but,  the  former  refused  any  longer  to  continue  in  command  at  Fort  Caroline.  The  assurances  of  the 
Indians  were  apiin  rrpented,  that  the  country  produced  gold,  and  they  would  point  out  the  mines; 
and  Ribaut  resolved  again  to  repair  and  garrison  the  fo:1?  and  to  make  the  permanent  establishment 
of  the  colony  at  this  place. 

But,  on  the  4th  September,  1(165,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  six  Spanish  vessels  were  seen  to 
enter  the  road  and  drop  anchor  near  the  fv.ir  large  ship?.  It  was  a  fleet  commanded  by  Don  Pedro 
MeneivJoz  de  Avilez,  an  officer  celebrated  by  his  countrymen  as  one  of  the  greatest  heroes  of  the 
new  world  ;  and  the  object  of  his  mission  was  the  extirpation  of  the  heretics  who  had  polluted,  b-v 
th'^ir  tread,  a  country  w'.iich  had  been  liberally  dealt  out  to  Catholics,  as  a  part  of  the  patrimonv 
of  St.  Peter. 

This  singular  rrmade  is  marked  by  a  v  iriety  of  striking  incidents. 

The  legitimate*  of  France  and  Spain,  Charles  the  Ninth, and  Philip  the  Second,  were,  at  this  time, 
at  perfect  peace  ;  ami,  the  latter  finding  leisure  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  settlement  of  the  Flo- 
ridas,  began  to  experience  the  most  sensible,  qualm?  at  his  having  so  long  deferred  the  good  work  of 


488  APPENDIX  A. 

christianizing  the  aborigines — the  very  purpose  for  which  these  territories  had  been  bountifully  be 
stowed  upon  him  by  the  legitimate  head  of  the  Church.  Menendez  was  selected  to  conduct  the 
enterprise  j  and,  in  consideration  of  bearing  the  greatest  part  of  the  expense  himself,  he  was  vested 
with  the  dignity  of  a  Spanish  Adelantade,  and  the  hereditary  government  of  the  Floridas.  It  was  in 
the  midst  of  the  preparation  for  the  undertaking,  that  the  intelligence  arrived,  that  the  Hugonots  had 
made  an  establishment  on  the  coast,  and  the  Propaganda  expedition,  immediately  assumed  all  the  cha 
racteristics  of  a  Proclaimed  crusade.  Clergy  and  Laiety  crowded  into  his  service,  and  voluntary  con 
tributions  from  the  sovereign  and  individuals  soon  swelled  his  force  to  near  three  thousand  men,  and 
near  twenty  vessels,  some  of  them  of  very  considerable  force.  Heaven,  however,  could  not  smile 
upon  the  undertaking ;  and  before  he  reached  Porto  Rico,  storms  and  tempests  had  reduced  his 
force  to  less  than  one-third.  It  was  now  seriously  deliberated,  whether  they  were  strong  enough  to 
proceed,  for  they  had  learned  from  the  ministers  of  Charles,  or  from  some  other  quarter,  that  the 
re-enforcement  under  Ribaut  had  preceded  them.  But,  either  the  fanaticism,  or  the  policy  of  their 
commander,  turned  even  their  misfortunes  into  a  reason  for  prosecuting  their  voyage.  "  The  Al 
mighty,"  said  Menendez,  "  has  thus  reduced  our  force,  that  his  own  arm  might  achieve  the  work." 

We  have  already  seen  that  Ribaut  had  reached  Fort  Caroline  some  days  before  the  arrival  of 
Menendez.  But  the  latter  appears  to  have  been  no  ways  deficient  in  promptness  of  design,  or  vigour 
of  execution.  He  resolved  to  surprise  the  French  ships  that  lay  hi  the  outer  road,  and  then  proceed 
as  after  circumstances  should  dictate,  in  his  designs  upon  the  fort.  The  French  captains  charge 
him  with  the  most  dastardly  cunning,  in  endeavouring  to  lull  them  into  security,  by  approaching 
them  under  the  mask  of  friendship  ;  a  mask  very  easily  assumed,  considering  the  pacific  relations 
then  existing  between  their  sovereigns. 

But,  whatever  was  his  conduct  in  this  respect,  the  attempt  did  but  succeed  ;  the  French  ships 
eluded  his  grasp  by  putting  to  sea  ;  and  he  thought  it  prudent,  after  thus  betraying  his  views,  to  retire 
from  a  garrison  which  he  could  no  longer  hope  to  surprise.  Falling  down  the  coast,  below  the 
Biouth  of  the  river  St.  John's,  he  made  choice  of  the  present  site  of  St.  Augustine,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  this  formidable  fortress,  and  of  the  first  permanent  establishment  on  the  North  Ame 
rican  continent.  His  intention  was,  to  protect  his  present  command  by  fortifications,  and  await  the 
arrival  of  re-enforcements. 

Ribaut  now  promptly  resolved  to  pursue  Menendez  ;  and,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  officers,  he 
crowded  his  whole  force  into  his  shipping,  leaving  in  Fort  Caroline  his  stores,  provisions,  women 
and  children,  and  the  sick  of  the  expedition,  and  a  garrison  under  Laudonnaire  of  about  eighty 
Bien,  not  above  twenty  of  whom  were  perfectly  effective. 

The  heavy  ships  which  had  kept  the  sea,  were  at  hand  to  unite  in  the  expedition  ;  and  Menendez 's 
vessels  were  found  moored  iu  a  situation  where  their  fate  was  inevitable.  Two  hours  more  would 
have  been  sufficient  to .  place  his  whole  command  at  the  mercy  of  his  enemy ;  but,  one  of  those 
sudden  tempests,  so  common  in  those  latitudes,  arrested  the  designs  of  Ribaut,  and  drove  his  vessels 
down  the  Florida  Gulph.  This  event  gave  an  entire  new  aspect  to  the  fortunes  of  Menendez, 
Knowing  that  some  days  would  probably  elapse  before  Ribaut  could  return  to  Fort  Caroline,  he 
resolved  to  open  his  way  through  the  forests,  and  attack  that  fort  before  it  could  be  prepared  to 
resist  him. 

Accordingly,  with  five  hundred  picked  men,  carrying  eight  days  provisions,  he  took  up  the  line 
of  march  for  the  French  post,  and  arrived  hi  the  forests  which  surrounded  it  and  which  concealed 
his  approach,  before  Laudonnaire  had  a  suspicion  of  his  having  left  St.  Augustine. 

Dark  and  cruel  was  the  superstition  which  appears  to  have  clouded  the  minds  of  these  bold  adven 
turers.  The  massacre  of  the  heretics  had  been  deliberately  determined  on  from  the  commencement 


APPENDIX  A.  481 

*>f  this  expedition ;  and  now,  solemnly,  on  bended  knees,  in  prayer  and  praises  to  the  Almighty, 
were  his  men  prepared  for  this  unhallowed  sacrifice.  From  prayer  they  rushed  to  slaughter,  and 
.«.  feeble  and  unarmed  garrison  fell  an  easy  prey  to  their  pious  fury.  The  humanity  of  Menendez 
extended  no  further  than  to  spare  the  women  and  the  boys  that  had  not  reached  fifteen  years ;  but 
his  men,  or  their  commander,  appear  to  have  amused  themselves  by  preserving  many  of  the  garri 
son  for  a  more  solemn  sacrifice.  After  the  heat  of  battle  had  subsided,  the  living  and  the  dying 
were,  indiscriminately,  suspended  to  the  boughs  of  a  tree,  and  their  bodies  left  a  prey  to  the  birds  of 
(he  air. 

The  truth  of  this  achievement  cannot  be  questioned,  for  Menendez  himself  commemorated  it  by  a 
monument,  intended  to  transmit  the  meritorious  deed  to  posterity.  At  the  root  of  the  tree  was 
erected  a  stone,  on  which  he  had  inscribed  these  words — "  I  do  not  do  this  as  to  Frenchmen,  but 
as  to  Lutherans."  Laudonniere  and  about  twenty  of  his  men,  effected  their  escape  by  leaping  from 
die  parapet  of  the  fort  and  flying  to  the  woods.  Ribaut  had  left  his  son  with  some  inferior  vessels 
in  the  harbour ;  these  dropped  down  beyond  the  reach  of  the  cannon  as  soon  as  they  discovered 
the  fate  of  the  fort,  and  fortunately  succeeded  in  taking  Laudonniere  and  his  few  followers  on  board. 
Some  others  remained  in  the  wood,  and  were  hunted  like  wild  beast.  If  taken,  they  were  sold  into 
slavery.  What  became  of  the  women  and  children  we  do  not  learn  ;  but,  they  had  nothing  to  ex 
pect  from  the  tender  mercies  of  their  captors,  unless  saved  by  an  hypocritical  conversion.  -The 
number  of  those  who  were  saved  from  the  sword  is  stated  at  seventy. 

But,  this  tragedy  was  trifling  when  compared  with  that  which  followed  : 

Menendez,  apprehensive  that  Ribaut  would  reach  St.  Augustine  in  his  absence,  and  retaliate  by 
the  capture  of  this  place,  and  of  his  shipping,  had  scarcely  terminated  his  butcheries  at  Fort  Caro 
line,  when  he  hastened  back  with  a  part  of  his  forces  to  the  protection  of  his  own  post.  Here,  to 
adopt  the  language  of  his  historian — "  All  the  world  ran  to  meet  the  conqueror  of  the  heretics,  with 
the  cross,  and  the  clergy  singing  te  deum,  and  conducting  him  in  triumph." 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  if  such  a  reception,  conducted  by  the  ministers  of  religion,  and  sanc 
tified  by  the  presence  of  its  most  revered  symbols,  should  whet  his  appetite  for  the  enjoyment  of 
Other  triumphs  similar  and  greater. 

The  fate  of  Ribaut's  fleet  had  now  been  decided.  After  struggling  for  several  dayi  in  the  Florida 
channel,  they  were  all  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  coast  south  of  St.  Augustine,  near  Cape  Canaverel- 
Some  arms  and  a  small  supply  of  privisions  were  saved  to  them — every  thing  else  was  swallowed 
up.  Thus  situated,  there  remained  to  them  but  one  course  to  pursue  ;  this  was,  to  thread  the  coast 
northerly  and  reach  Fort  Caroline,  if  practicable  ;  if  not,  to  submit  to  the  necessity  of  surrendering 
themselves  to  the  Spaniards.  With  this  view,  they  appear  to  have  formed  themselves  into  two 
bodies,  one  of  which  preceded  the  other  a  few  days  march.  The  first,  arriving  at  the  bank  of  a 
small  river,  twelve  miles  south  of  St.  Augustine,  found  themselves  arrested  in  their  progress  ;  and 
before  they  rould  prepare  the  means  of  transportation,  information  was  communicated  to  Menendez 
that  a  number  of  white  men  \vere  so  situated.  Accompanied  by  a  detachment  of  forty  soldiers,  and 
a  boat,  Menendez  proceeded  to  reconnoitre  the  party,  and  from  a  soldier  who  crossed  the  stream  by 
Swimming,  to  his  great  relief,  he  learned  the  fate  of  Ribaut's  fleet.  « 

What  follows,  is  differently  related  by  the  French  and  Spanish  historians  ;  but,  after  all  the  gloss 
that  the  latter  has  shed  over  the  conduct  of  Menendez.  he  appears  to  have  been  guilty  of  an  act  of 
deliberate  tranquil  barbarity — at  the  bare  relating  of  which,  the  human  heart  freezes.  They  admit, 
that  two  him  Ired  men  were  brought  over  the  river,  by  tens,  all  bound  together,  and  when  conducted 
beyood  the  sight  of  their  comrades,  on  the  opposite  bank,  "  at  a  line  marked  with  his  cane  on  the 


482  APPENDIX  A. 

sand,"  were  cruelly  butchered.     Nor  were    the  rites  of  sepulchre  allowed  to  them — but,  their  bon«s 
were  left  to  bleach  upon  the  sands. 

A  few  days  after,  the  remaining  party  appeared,  with  Ribaut  himself  at  their  head  ;  and  Menen- 
Uez  again  repaired  to  the  banks  of  the  river,  but  attended  by  a  more  respectable  escort.  A  consi 
derable  negotiation  ensued,  and  a  large  ransom  was  offered  but,  Menendez,  deliberately  pacing  the 
margin  of  the  river,  and  permitting  the  negotiators  to  go  and  return  as  often  as  they  pleased,  nay, 
«>ven  setting  refreshments  before  them,  gave  them  to  understand  that  they  must  surrender  at  discre 
tion.  It  is  even  related,  that  Ribaut  himself  came  over  to  negotiate,  attended  with  five  or  six  of  his 
officers  ;  and  after  being  respectfully  received  by  Menendez,  and  food  set  before  him,  was  conducted 
to  the  plain  where  the  bodies  of  his  200  men  still  lay  exposed,  and  was  informed  of  the  chastisement 
inflicted  on  those  who  had  been  left  at  Fort  Caroline — still  he  was  required  to  surrender  at  discre 
tion. 

It  was  in  vain  that  these  unfortunate  men  urged,  that  the  two  monarchs  were  not  only  at  peace, 
but  in  alliance.  All  the  answer  they  could  obtain  was — "  It  is  true  that  the  Catholic  French  are 
our  allies  and  friends  ;  but  it  is  not  so  with  the  heretics  ;  on  them  I  wage  a  war  of  extermination, 
and  I  will  wage  it  with  the  utmost  cruelty  upon  all  those  of  this  sect  that  I  meet  with  by  land  or  sea  ; 
and  in  this  I  serve  both  monarchs.  I  came  to  Florida  to  establish  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  If  you 
are  satisfied  to  abandon  yourself  to  my  mercy,  and  to  deliver  up  your  arms  and  ensigns,  I  will  do  with 
you  what  God  shall  inspire  me.  If  not,  cause  your  own  course,  but  do  not  hope  from  me  either 
friendship  or  peace.  I  have  been  ordered  by  my  king,  to  conquer  and  people  Florida,  and  establish 
there  the  gospel." 

Ribaut  was  permitted  quietly  to  return  to  his  companions  in  misfortune,  and  the  painful  alter 
native  was  submitted  to  their  choice.  Flattering  himself  witii  the  hope,  that  Menendez  would 
accept  a  ransom,  he,  with  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  others,  resolved  to  submit  themselves  to 
their  enemy  :  but,  the  remainder,  about  two  hundred  in  number,  determined  rather  to  brave  every 
danger. 

Ribant  was  compelled  to  submit  to  the  indignity  of  being  tied  with  nine  others,  and  met  with  the 
common  fate  of  all  who  were  silly  enough  to  surrender  their  arms.  Eight  hundred  in  ail,  it  is  said 
perished  ;  but  the  number,  even  including  the  sick  at  the  fort,  would  scarcely  have  equalled  that 
amount.  The  French  had  no  interest  in  reducing  the  numbers  ;  and  the  Spaniards  thought  it 
a  boast  to  have  destroyed  so  many  heretics. 

The  two  hundred  who  had  the  prudence  to  preserve  their  arms,  finally  met  wifn  a  milder  fate. 
Returning  to  the  wrecks  of  their  vessels,  they  there  furnished  themselves  with  many  articles  gather 
ed  from  the  hulks,  and  constructed  a  small  fort  for  their  defence,  while  they  proceeded  to  build  a 
vessel  competent  to  convey  them  to  some  more  hospitable  shore.  But,  their  persc:;tor  was  not 
yet  sated  with  blood.  His  conduct  had  all  along  been  regulated  by  the  conviction,  that  his  victims 
were  shut  in  the  peninsula  too  firmly  to  escape  him  ;  and  now,  hearing  from  the  Indians  of  the  mea 
sures  they  were  prosecuting,  he  resolved  to  anticipate  them.  Accompanied  by  an  armed  force  and 
attended  by  some  small  vessels,  he  threaded  the  Florida  coast  until  he  readied  the  resting  place  of  the 
fugitives.  Their  vessel  was  far  advanced,  but  their  fort  was  only  intended  to  defend  them  against  an 
enemy  that  had  not  fire  arms.  They  were,  therefore,  obliged  to  abandon  it,  and  flying  to  an  elevated 
ground,  they  resolved  to  sell  their  lives  dearly,  if  they  could  not  repulse  the  enemy.  A  negotiation 
ensued,  and  a  surrender  agreed  on,  upon  a  solemn  pledge  of  security  and  kind  treatment.  Their 
commander,  however,  with  about  twenty,  resolved  rather  to  perish  in  the  desert  than  trust  them 
selves  to  their  cruel  enemy  ;  and,  leaving  their  companions  in  the  night,  sought  safety  in  the  thickets. 
Whatever  became  of  them  is  unknown.  The  rest  either  established  themselves  in  Florida,  or  found 


•       APPENDIX  A. 

their  way  home — the  poor  remains  of  the  gallant  company  that  had  followed  Ribaut  from  France, 
many  of  them  men  of  wealth  and  distinction.  It  is  very  remarkable,  that  of  all  the  number  sacrificed 
by  Menendez,  although  the  question  was  regularly  propounded  to  the  unfortunate  victims,  of  what 
religion  are  you,  only  eight  saved  their  lives  by  acknowledging  themselves  Catholics. 

This  is  the  account  furnished  by  the  Spanish  historians,  and  even  by  the  brother-in-law  of  Me- 
uendez.  But,  the  French  writers  of  the  day  charge  the  Spaniards  with  having  treacherously 
promised  Ribaut  and  his  companions  life  and  security,  and  violated  that  promise  as  soon  as  the 
French  had  surrendered  their  arms.  They  further  assert,  that  he  was  flayed  alive,  his  body  burnt, 
and  his  stuffed  skin  sent  to  Europe,  a  worthy  present  to  the  barbarians  who  then  ruled  half  the 
world  !  and  that  the  most  horrid  and  wanton  barbarities  were  practised  upon  the  wretched  captives. 
Certain  it  is,  that  when  the  news  reached  France,  it  was  productive  every  where,  but  at  court,  of  the 
keenest  indignation.  Nor  was  this  feeling  confined  to  the  Protestants  ;  it  extended  itself  to  the 
Catholics,  and  by  one  of  that  faith  was  it  shortly  after  most  signally  avenged. 

The  Chevalier  Dominique  de  Gourgues,  a  character  that  would  grace  an  epic  poem,  was  a  Gascon 
gentleman,  born  at  Mont  Marsnn,  county  of  Cominges,  of  a  respectable  Roman  Catholic  family. 

The  youth  of  De  Gourgues  had  been  spent  in  arms,  and  he  had  acquired  a  reputation  not  sur 
passed  by  any  subaltern  officer  in  France.  A  soldier  of  fortune,  he  passed  from  service  to  service 
after  the  manner  of  that  age,  until  an  adventure,  which  occurred  to  him  whilst  serving  against  the 
Spaniards  in  Italy,  appears  to  have  fixed  him  in  irreconcilable  hostility  to  that  nation.  For  an  instance 
of  obstinate  bravery,  which  ought  to  have  ensured  him  the  esteem  of  a  generous  enemy,  he  was 
consigned  to  the  Spanish  gallies.  A  capture  by  an  Algerine,  under  any  other  circumstances  a 
misfortune,  broke  the  chain  which  confined  him  to  this  most  disreputable  of  employments  j  for  the 
prize  was  pursued,  overtaken  and  recaptured  by  a  vessel  of  Malta,  and  the  admiration  of  the  brave, 
secured  to  De  Gourgues  his  freedom  and  honorable-  employment.  De  Gourgues  now  took  to  the  sea 
service,  and  a  long  absence  in  foreign  seas,  together  with  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  leaves  little 
doubt  of  his  having  employed  this  interval  in  indemnifying  himself  for  the  indignities  received  from 
the  Spaniards. 

He  had  retired  to  private  life  when  the  news  of  the  massacre  by  the  Spaniards  in  Florida  revived 
the  half-extinguished  resentment  which  his  injuries  had  excited.  De  Gourgues  immediately  sold  his 
property,  vested  the  proceeds,  and  even  incurred  large  debts  in  equipping  two  gullies  and  a  tender, 
under  the  pretext  of  employing  them  in  the  African  trade.  The  pursuits  of  the  French,  and  the 
habits  of  their  government  at  this  time,  were  exemplified  by  the  commission  under  which  he  sailed, 
which  authorized  him  "  to  catch  negroes  on  the  coast  of  Africa." 

De  Gourgues  communicated  his  design  to  no  human  being ;  but,  he  had  the  precaution  to  secure 
ihe  services  of  one  of  Laudonnicre's  soldiers,  who  had  resided  long  enuugh  in  Florida  to  acquire 
some  knowledge  of  the  country  and  the  language  of  the  natives.  He  also  engaged  the  services  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  picked  men,  many  of  them  gentleman  adventurers  ;  and  having  equipped  his 
Tessels  with  every  thing  necessary  for  a  cruize  of  twelve  months,  set  sail  from  Bourdeaux,  the  2d 
August,  1567- 

His  voyage  was  not  fortunate  ;  and  the  better  to  conceal  his  design,  he  found  himself  obliged  to 
take  a  very  circuitous  course,  so  that  he  approached  Florida  by  doubling  the  westward  of  the  island 
of  Cuba. 

It  was  not  until  he  reached  this  point,  that  he  acquainted  his  crew  with  the  real  object  of  this  Ion* 
and  perilous  voyage.  In  an  impressive  speech,  he  exhibited  to  them  the  disgrace  that  their  natiou 
fcad  sustained  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  by  suffering  such,  wrongs  to  remain  so  long  uiireveugevl ;  arid 


484 


painted  in  such  striking;  colours  the  enormities  that  the  Spaniards  had  been  guilty  of—- that  his  ere* 
vith  one  voice  declared  their  readiness  to  follow  him  in  the  enterprize. 

The  rest  of  his  voyage  consumed  but  little  time.  So  entirely  unsuspicious  were  the  Spaniards,  of 
attack,  that  on  passing  Fort  Caroline,  now  called  by  them  Fort  St.  Matthew,  De  Gourgues  received 
a  salute.  Passing  onto  the  Altamaha,  he  entered  the  mouth  of  that  river,  and  as  his  Dallies  drew  but 
little  water,  and  were  provided  with  oars,  he  found  no  difficulty  in  ascending  the  river.  Here  he  met 
with  a  great  number  of  natives  ;  and  Laudonniere's  soldier  being  recognized  by  them,  they  readily 
conjectured  that  the  commander  was  bound  on  no  friendly  errand.  A  league  was  soon  entered  into 
to  attack  the  fort,  and  only  deferred  until  it  could  be  reconnoitered  by  one  of  the  officers  of  the  expe- 
pedition. 

De  Gourgues  was  not  appalled  at  the  report  of  this  officer  ;  notwithstanding  that,  the  fort  had 
been  much  improved  by  the  Spaniards,  supported  by  two  other  works  opposite  each  other  on  the 
river,  and  garrisoned  with  four  hundred  men — two  hundred  in  the  principal,  and  one  hundred  in 
each  of  the  subordinate  works. 

The  attack  was  immediately  resolved  on,  and  a  rendezvous  agreed  on  at  the  mouth  of  a  stream 
twelve  miles  north  of  the  river.  The  affair  appears  to  have  been  conducted  with  secrecy,  fidelity 
and  spirit ;  and  the  Europeans  attribute  to  the  Indians  a  degree  of  bravery  in  the  assault,  which  it 
vould  be  imposible  now  to  excite  them  to. 

The  small  forts  on  the  north  and  south  sides  of  the  river  were  carried  by  assault,  and  the  men  mostly 
put  to  the  sword.  Then  waylaying,  with  his  Indians,  all  the  avenues  of  escape  from  Fort  Caroline,  De 
Gourgues  proceeded  to  a  deliberate  examination  of  the  difficulties  of  the  undertaking.  It  was  soon 
discovered  that  it  must  be  carried  by  escalade,  and  having  brought  with  him  the  impliments  necessary 
for  such  an  emergency,  he  was  engaged  in  -  preparing  his  ladders,  when  the  garrison  precipitated  their 
fate,  first  by  an  imprudent  sally,  and  then  by  a  desperate  attempt  to  gain  the  thickets.  Here  De 
Gourgues  had  prepared  for  them  the  most  certain  destruction  ;  for  the  woods  were  full  of  exasperated 
Indians,  and  not  one  of  them  escaped  to  tell  of  their  disasters. 

Thus  far  there  is  much  to  admire,  and  according  to  the  received  opinions  of  that  da)-,  relative  to 
garrisons  carried  by  assault,  nothing  to  blame.  But  there  were  some  prisoners  made,  and  the  stone  set  up 
by  Menendez,  beingstill  standing  to  commemorate  his  barbarity  to  the  French  prisoners,  unfortunately 
De  Gourgues  was  led  to  imitate  as  well  as  execrate  the  barbarous  example.  Could  retaliation  always 
fall  on  the  actual  offender,  even  the  wise  and  good  might  often  retaliate.  His  prisoners  were  all 
suspended  on  the  same  tree  that  had  borne  his  countrymen  ;  and  instead  of  the  stone  of  Menendez, 
was  substituted  a  pine  plank  by  De  Gourgues,  inscribed  with  "  I  did  not  do  this  as  to  Spaniards,  nor  as 
to  infidels,  but  as  to  traitors,  thieves  and  murderers/' 

De  Gourgues  demolished  the  forts  and  returned  to  France  ;  not  to  enjoy  the  admiration  of  his 
countrymen,  but  to  be  pursued  by  the  Spaniards,  and  persecuted  by  his  own  government.  He  lived 
in  obscurity  and  dependence  ;  for  his  efforts  to  fit  out  his  expedition  had  involved  him  deeply  in 
debt ;  and  when  at  last  he  was  invited  into  honourable,  and  to  him,  pleasant  service,  by  the  King  of 
Portugal,  against  the  Spaniards,  he  did  not  live  to  enter  on  his  command. 

Thus  ended  all  the  viev/s  of  the  French  nation  upon  French  Florida.  Thenceforth,  the  dispute 
Jay  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  British,  which  should  retain  the  country. 


'I  . 

•    .  --      - 


'.  . 

T;  '•" 


APPENDIX   B. 


f  See  page  294.  j 


SOUTHERN  ARMY. 

• 

.A  Narrative  of  the  Campaign  of  1780, by  Co?o«e?OTiio  HOLLAND  WILLIAMS,  Adjutant  General. 

A  HE  city  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  was  invested  by  a  British  army,  commanded  by  General  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  on  the  1st  day  of  April  1780.  Major  General  Lincoln  of  the  American  army,  who 
commanded  the  garrison,  made  the  best  possible  defence  his  situation  and  circumstances  would  admit 
of;  but,  finding  his  garrison  inadequate,  and  the  resources  of  the  country  cut  off,  or  exhausted,  he 
applied  to  the  commander  in  chief  of  the  American  army  for  are-enforcement. 

On  the  l6th  day  of  April  1780,  the  quotas  of  Maryland  and  Delaware  troops,  about  fourteen 
hundred  infantry,  marched  under  the  orders  of  Major  General  the  Baron  De  Kalb,  from  can 
tonments  near  Morristown  in  New  Jersey,  for  the  head  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  They  embarked  the 
3d  day  of  May,  at  the  head  of  Elk  River,  and  arrived  at  Petersburgh  in  Virginia,  early  in  June. 

Here  the  unwelcome  news  of  the  surrender  of  Charleston  (on  the  12th  May)  was  first  comma, 
nlcated  to  the  detachment,  the  principal  object  of  whose  destination  was  lost 5  but  the  country 
was  not  yet  conquered  ;  and  it  was  presumed  that  the  countenance  of  a  body  of  regular  troops,  how 
ever  small,  would  constitute  more  than  any  thing  else  to  sustain  the  fortitude  of  the  militia.  Every 
exertion,  therefore,  was  made  in  Virginia  to  expedite  the  march  of  the  baron's  detachment,  which 
here  received  a  small  re-enforcement  of  artillery.  It  proceeded  with  some  celerity,  arid  in  fine 
spirits  as  far  as  Wilcox's  Iron  Works,  on  Deep  River,  in  the  state  of  North  Carolina  ;  but  here,  on 
the  6lh  day  of  July,  the  baron  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  halting  for  want  of  provisions. 

The  state  of  North  Carolina,  had  made  no  provision  for  the  troops  of  the  union  ;  she  was  solely 
occupied  with  her  own  militia,  a  great  portion  of  which,  being  disaffected,  were  obliged  to  be  dragoon 
ed  into  the  service.  All  the  baron's  applications  and  remonstrances  to  the  executive,  were  without 
effect;  he  was  obliged  to  send  small  detachments,  under  discreet  officers,  to  collect  provisions  from 
the  inhabitants,  who,  at  that  season  of  the  year,  had  but  little  to  spare;  many  of  them  were  subsisting 
themselves  upon  the  last  of  the  preceding  crop  of  grain,  and  the  new,  although  it  promised  plenty, 
was  not  vet  mature  ;  consequently  some  of  the  inhabitants  must  have  suffered  notwithstanding  the 

61 


APPENDIX  B. 

Itrict  orders  to  the  officers  to  impress  only  a  proportion  of  what  was  found  on  the  farms.  In  tlus 
dilemma  the  troops  remained  several  days,  but  the  resources  failing,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  camp,  it  be 
came  necessary  to  draw  supplies  from  a  greater  distance,  or  march  to  where  there  was  greater  plenty, 
the  former  was  impracticable  as  the  means  of  transportation  were  not  in  the  baron's  power.  .  He 
consequently  determined  on  the  latter,  previously  extending  the  excursions  of  his  foraging  parties, 
with  directions  to  form  a  small  magazine  at  Cox's  (or  Wilcox's)  Mill,  on  Deep  River,  where  the  troops 
arrived  on  the  —  day  of  July,  and  encamped  near  Buffalo  Ford. 

Still,  however,  the  supplies  of  grain  were  scarcely  sufficient,  even  for  the  present  subsistence  of 
the  troops;  and  the  only  meat-ration  that  could  be  procured,  was  lean  beef,  daily  driven  out  of  the 
woods  and  the  cane-breaks,  where  the  cattle  had  wintered  themselves.  Inaction,  bad  fare,  and  the 
difficulty  of  preserving  discipline,  when  there  is  no  apprehension  of  danger,  have  often  proved' 
fotal  to  troops,  and  ruined  whole  armies.  But  here,  the  activity  of  the  officers,  and  the  persevering1 
patience  of  die  privates,  preserved  order,  harmony,  and  even  a  passion  for  the  service. 

The  baron  did  not  fail  to  represent  his  situation  to  Congress,  and  to  repeat  his  remonstrances  to 
the  executive  of  the  state  of  North  Carolina.  He  had  been  flattered  with  a  promise  of  a  plentiful' 
supply  of  provisions  and  a  respectable  re-enforcement  of  the  militia  of  North  Carolina.;  which,  about 
that  time  took  the  field,  under  the  command  of  Mr.  Caswell,  who  was  appointed  a  major  general. 
The  supplies,  however,  did  not  arrive,  and  the  commandant  of  the  militia,  ambitious  of  signalizing 
himself,  employed  his  men  in  detachments  against  small  parties  of  disaffected  inhabitants,  who,  to 
avoid  being  drafted  into  the  service  of  their  country,  retired  among  the  swamps  and  other  cover, 
with  which  that  country  abounds. 

It  was  in  vain  that  the  baron  required  General  Caswell  to  join  his  command  ;  and  it  was  equally 
fruitless  to  expect  much  longer  to  find  subsistence  for  his  soldiers,  in  a  country  where  marauding 
parties  of  militia  swept  all  before  them.  The  baron,  therefore,  hesitated  whether  he  had  better  inarch 
to  join  the  militia,  in  hopes  to  find  that  Caswell's  complaints  of  a  want  of  provisions  for  himself 
were  fictitious  ;  or  to  move  up  the  country  and  gain  the  fertile  banks  of  the  Yadkin  River.  But 
before  any  resolution  was  taken,  the  approach  of  Major  General  Gates  was  announced,  by  the 
arrival  of  his  aid  de  camp,  Major  Armstrong  who  was  to  have  acted  as  deputy  adjutant  general,  but 
was  prevented  by  sickness. 

General  Gates,  who  had  so  fortunately  terminated  the  career  of  General  Burgoyne  in  the  north 
was  appointed  to  command  the  southern  army,  immediately  a/ter  the  reduction  of  Charleston.  His 
arrival  on  the  25th  July,  was  a  relief  to  De  Kalb  ;  who,  condescendingly,  took  command  of  the  Mary 
land  division,  which  included  the  regiment  of  Delaware.  Besides  these  two  corps,  the  army  con 
sisted  only  of  a  small  legionary  corps,  which  formed  a  junction  with  them  a  few  days  before,  under' 
the  command  of  Colonel  Armand,  being  about  sixty  cavalry,  ana  ;is  many  infantry  ;  and  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Carrington's  detachment  of  three  companies  of  artillery,  which  hud  joined  in  Virginia. 

General  Gates  was  received  with  respectful  ceremony  ;  the  baron  ordered  a  continental  salute 
from  the  little  park  of  artillery — which  was  performed  on  the  entrance  into  camp  of  his  successor. 
who  made  his  acknowledgments  to  the  baron  for  his  great  politeness — approved  his  standing  orders — 
and,  as  if  actuated  by  a  spirit  of  great  activity  awd  enterprise,  ordered  the  troops  to  hold  themselves 
in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  learning.  The  latter  order  was  a  matter  of  great  astonishment 
to  those  who  knew  the  real  situation  of  the  troops.  But  all  difficulties  were  removed  by  the  gcnr* 
ral's  assurances,  that  plentiful  supplies  of  ru?:i  and  rations  were  on  the  route,  and  would  overtake 
them  in  a  day  or  two — assurances  that  certainly  were  too  fallacious,  and  that  never  were  verified.  All 
were  in  motion,  however,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  2?th  of  July,  and  the  general  took  the  route 
,i)ver  Buffalo  Ford,  leading  towards  the  enemy's  advanced  post  on  Lyncji's  Creek,  on  the  road  to 


APPENDIX  fc.  487 

Camden,  leaving  two  brass  field-pieces  and  some  baggage,  for  want  of  horses.  Colonel  Williams, 
presuming  on  the  friendship  of  the  general,  ventured  to  expostulate  wuh  him  upon  the  seeming  pre 
cipitate  and  inconsiderate  step  he  was  taking.  He  represented  that  the  country  through  which  he 
was  about  to  march,  was  by  nature  barren,  abounding  with  sandy  plains,  intersected  by  swamp's, 
and  very  thinly  inhabited  ;  that  the  little  provisions  and  forage  which  were  produced  on  the  banks 
of  its  few  small  streams  were  exhausted,  or  taken  away  by  the  enemy,  and  by  the  hordes  of  banditti, 
(called  tories)  which  had  retired,  from  what  they  called  the  persecution  of  the  rebels,  and  who 
would  certainly  distress  his  army,  small  as  it  was,  by  removing  what  little  might  remain  out  of  his 
way.  On  the  other  hand,  the  colonel  represented,  that  a  route  about  north  west,  would  cross  the  Pec 
Dee  River  some  where  about  where  it  loses  the  name  of  Yadkin,  and  would  lead  to  the  little  town 
of  Salisbury,  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  country,  and  inhabited  by  a  people  zealous  in  the  cause  of 
America.  That  the  most  active  and  intelligent  officers  had  contemplated  tins  route  with  pleasure, 
uot  only,  as  it  promised  a  more  plentiful  supply  of  provisions,  but  because  the  sick,  the  women  and 
children,  and  the  wounded,  in  case  of  disaster,  might  have  an  asylum  provided  for  them  at  Salis 
bury  or  Charlotte,  where  they  would  remain  in  security,  because  the  militia  of  the  counties 
of  Mecklenburgh  and  Roan,  in  which  these  villages  stand,  were  staunch  friends.  The  idea 
•of  establishing  an  laboratory,  for  the  repair  of  arms  at  a  secure  place,  was  also  suggested  as 
necessary — the  security  of  convoys  of  stores  from  the  northward,  by  the  upper  route — the  advantage 
of  turning  the  left  of  the  enemy's  out-posts,  even  by  a  circuitous  route — that  of  approaching  the 
most  considerable  of  those  posts  (Camden)  with  the  river  Wateree  on  our  right,  and  our  friends  on 
our  backs — and  some  other  considerations,  were  suggested.  And,  that  they  might  the  more  forcibly 
impress  the  general's  mind,  a  short  note  was  presented  to  him,  concisely  intimating  the  same  opinion, 
and  referring  to  the  best  informed  gentlemen-  under  his  command.  General  Gates  said,  he  would 
confer  with  the  general  officers  when  the  troops  should  halt  at  noon.  Whether  any  conference  took 
place  or  not,  the  writer  don't  know.  After  a  short  halt  at  noon,  when  the  men  were  refreshed,  upon 
the  scraps  in  their  knapsacks,  the  march  was  resumed.  The  country  exceeded  the  representation  that 
had  been  made  of  it — scarcely  had  it  emerged  from  a  state  of  sterile  nature — the  few  rude  attempts 
at  improvement  that  were  to  be  found,  were  most  of  them  abandoned  by  the  owners,  and  plundered 
by  the  neighbours.  Every  one,  in  this  uncivilized  part  of  the  country,  was  flying  from  his  home, 
and  joining  in  parties,  under  adventurers,  who  pretended  to  yield  them  protection,  until  the  British 
army  should  appear — which  they  seemed  confidently  to  expect.  The  distresses  of  the  solJiery  duily 
increased — they  were  told  that  the  banks  of  the  Pee  Dee  River  were  extremely  fertile — and  so 
indeed  they  were;  bat.  the  preceding  crop  of  corn  (the  principal  article  of  produce)  was  exhausted, 
and  the  new  grain,  although  luxuriant  and  fine,  was  unfit  for  use.  Many  of  the  soldiery,  urged  by 
.necessity,  plucked  the  green  ears  and  boiled  them  with  the  lean  btvf,  uhich  was  collected  in  the 
woods,  made  for  themselves  a  repast,  not  unpalatable  to  be  sure,  but  which  was  attended  with  pain 
ful  effects.  Green  peaches  also  w^re  substituted  for  bread,  and  hail  similar  consequences.  So.ne 

^^V 

of  the  officers,  aware  of  the  risk  of-^eatin ;  such  vegetables,  and  in  such  a  state,  with  poor  fresh 
beef,  and  without  salt,  restrained  them^ves'Yrom  taking  any  thing  but  the  beef  itself,  boiled  or 
roasted.  It  occurred  to  some,  that  the  ha5r\powder,  which  remained  in  their  bags,  would  thicken 
foup,  and  it  was  actually  applied.* 


"  Captain  W.  D.  Bcale,  kr.: 


488  APPENDIX  B. 

.*•' 

The  troops,  notwithstanding  their  disappointment  in  not  being  overtaken  by  a  supply  of  rum  and 
provisions,  were  again  amused  with  promises,  and  gave  early  proofs  of  that  patient  submission,  \rr- 
flexible  fortitude,  and  undeviating  integrity,  \vhich  they  afterwards  more  eminently  displayed. 
.  "  On  the  3d  day  of  August  the  little  army  crossed  Pee  Dee  River,  in "batteaus,  at  Mask's  Ferry,-  and 
were  met  on  the  southern  bank  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Porterfield,  an  officer  of  merit,  who,  after  the 
disaster  at  Charleston,  retired  with  a  small  detachment  and  found  means  of  subsisting  himself  and 
liis  men  in  Carolina  until  the  psesent  time. 

Colonel  Marion,  a  gentleman  of  South  Carolina,  had  been  with  the  army  a  few  days,  attended  by 
a  very  few  followers,  distinguished  by  small  black  leather  caps  and  the  wretchedness  of  their  attire; 
•  -their  number  did  not  exceed  twenty  men  and  boys,  some  white,  some  black,  and  all  mounted,  but  most 
of  them  miserably  equipped ;  their  appearance  was  in  fact  so  burlesque,  that  it  was  with  much  difficulty 
the  diversion  of  the  regular  soldiery  was  restrained  by  the  officers ;  and  the  general  himself  was  glad 
of  an  opportunity  of  detaching  Colonel  Marion,  at  his  own  instance,  towards  the  interior  of  South 
Carolina,  with  orders  to  watch  the  motions  of  die  enemy,  and  funiish  intelligence. 

These  trifling  circumstances  are  remembered  in  these  notes,  to  show  from  what  contemptible 
beginnings  a  good  capacity  will  rise  to  distinction.  The  history  of  the  war  in  South  Carolina,  will  recog 
nize  Marion  as  a  brave  partisan,  if  only  the  actions  of  the  two  last  year's  campaigns  are  recorded. 

The  expectation,  founded  on  assurances,  of  finding  a  plentiful  supply  of  provisions  at  May's  Mill, 
induced  the  troops  again  to  obey  the  order  to  march  with  cheerfulness;  but  being  again  disappointed, 
fatigued,  and.  almost  famished,  their  patience  began  to  forsake  them,  their  looks  began  to  be  vindictive; 
mutiny  was  ready  to  manifest  itself,  and  the  most  unhappy  consequences  were  to  be  apprehended  ; 
when  the  regimental  officers,  by  mixing  among  the  men  and  remonstrating  with  them,  appeased  mur 
murs,  for  which,  unhappily,  there  was  too  much  cause.  The  officers,  however,  by  appealing  to  their 
own  empty  canteens  end  mess  cases,  satisfied  the  privates,  that  all  suffered  alike;  and,  exhorting  them 
to  exercise  the  same  fortitude,  of  which  the  officers  gave  them  the  example,  assured  them  that  the 
best  means  of  extricating  them  from  the  present  distress,  should  be  immediately  adopted  ;  that  if  the 
supplies  expected  by  the  general  did  not  arrive  very  soon,  detachments  should  go  from  each  corps,  in 
all  directions,  to  pick  up  what  grain  might  possibly  be  found  in  the  country,  and  bring  it  to  the  mill. 

Fortunately,  a  small  quantity  of  Indian  corn  was  immediately  brought  into  cnmp — the  mill  was 
set  to  work,  and  as  soon  as  a  mess  of  meal  was  ground  it  was  delivered  out  to  the  men  ;  and  so,  in 
rotation,  they  were  all  served  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours — more  poor  cattle  were  sacrificed — the 
camp  kettles  were  all  engaged — the  men  were  busy,  but  silent,  until  they  had  each  taken  his  repast ; 
and  then  all  was  again  content,  cheerfulness  and  mirth.  It  was  as  astonishing  as  it  was  pleasing,  to 
observe  the  transition. 

The  general  and  field  officers  were  not  the  first  served  upon  this  occasion  ;  nor  were  they  generally 
the  most  satisfied  ;  but,  as  no  one  could  point  out  the  means  of  immediate  redress,  no  remonstrances 
took  place  with  the  commanding  officer.  The  commanding  officer,  however,  was  well  informed  of 
\vhat  was  passing  in  the  camp,  and  of  the  critical  disposition  ^of  the  troops.  Impressed  by  a  sense 
j»f  difficulties,  and,  perhaps,  conceiving  himself  in  some  degree  accountable  to  the  anny  for  the  steps 
he  had  taken,  he  told  Colonel  Williams,  who  acted  as  deputy  adjutant  general  to  the  southern 
army,  that  he  had,  in  a  measure,  been  forced  to  take  the  route  he  had  done — that  General  Caswell 
had  evaded  every  order  which  had  been  sent  to  him,  as  well  by  the  I'aron  De  Kalb  as  himself,  to 
Ibrm  a  junction  of  the  militia  with  the  regular  corps — that  it  appeared  to  him,  that  CaswelFs  vanity 
was  gratified  by  having  a  separate  command — that  probably  he  contemplated  some  enterprise  to 
distinguish  himielf,  and  gratify  his  ambiition  ;  which,  said  he,  "  I  should  not  be  sorry  to  see  checked 
•  by  a  jap  over  the  kui:ckles,  if  it  were  not  that  the  uiUitfa  would  disperse,  and  leave  this  handful  of 


APPENDIX  B. 

brave  men  without  even  nominal  assistance."  He  urged  further,  that  it  was  the  more  necessary  to- 
counteract  the  indiscretion  of  Co*  well,  and  save  him  from  disaster,  as  he  then  commanded  the  only 
corps  of  militia  that  were  embodied  in  the  Carolinas — that  the  assurances  he  had  received  from  the 
executive  of  North  Carolina,  gave  him  cause  to  suspect,  that  supplies  of  provisions  had  been  for 
warded,  and  used  in  profusion  in  CaswelTs  camp,  notwithstanding  intimations  had  been  communi 
cated  to  him,  that  the  militia  were  in  as  bad  a  situation,  in  that  respect,  as  the  regular  corps. 

That  moreover,  having  marched  thus  far  directly  towards  the  enemy,  a  retrogade  or  indirect  move 
ment,  would  not  only  dispirit  the  troops,  but  intimidate  the  people  of  the  country;  many  of 
whom  had  come  in  with  their  arms,  or  sent  their  submissions  to  the  general,  promissing,  upon  his 
engagement  to  indemnify  them  for  what  had  passed,  to  assemble  themselves  under  their  own  leaders 
and  follow  the  colours  of  the  Union.  The  poverty  of  the  country,  and"  the  perfidy  of  the  people, 
were  in  vain  opposed  to  these  agreements,  and  in  fact  the  troops  had  penetrated  so  far,  as  to  make  it 
even  as  hazardous  to  return  or  file  off"  for  the  upper  country,  as  to  advance. 

Dangerous,  as  deceptions  had  been,  it  was  still  thought  expedient  to  flatter  the  expectation  of  the 
soldiery  with  an  abundance  of  provisions,  so  soon  as  a  junction  could  oe  formed  with  the  militia; 
therefore,  after  collecting  all  the  corn  which  was  to  be  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  May's  Mill,  and 
huckstering  all  the  meal  that  could  be  spared  from  our  present  necessities,  the  march  was  resumed 
towards  Camden. 

On  the  5th  day  of  August,  in  the  afternoon,  General  Gates  received  a  letter,  informing  him  that 
General  Caswell  meditated  an  attack  upon  a  fortified  post  of  the  enemy  on  Lynch's  Creek,  about 
fourteen  miles  from  the  militia  encampment.  More  anxious  than  ever,  General  Gates  urged  on  the 
march  of  the  regulars.  Whatever  the  men  suffered,  and  whatever  they  thought,  the  example  of 
the  officers,  who  shared  with  them  every  inconvenience,  repressed  the  murmurs  which  were  hourly 
expected  to  break  forth.  The  next  morning,  orders  were  issued  for  the  army  to  march  with  the 
utmost  expedition  to  join  the  militia,  under  the  idea  that  it  was  the  only  expedient  to  gain  a  supply 
of  provisions  ;  but,  another  and  a  more  vexatious  cause  to  General  Gates  was,  alerter  from  General 
Caswell,  advising  him  that  he  had  every  reason  to  apprehend  an  attack  on  his  camp  by  the  garrison 
from  Lynch's  Creek,  (the  very  garrison  which  he,  the  day  before,  had  determined  to  assault,  for 
there  was  no  possibility  of  surprising  troops  so  situated,)  and  requesting  General  Gates  to  re-enforce 
him  with  all  possible  dispatch. 

One  of  Caswell's  letters  began — "  Sir,  General  W ,  my  aid  de.  camp." — The  osten 
tation  of  this  address  weakened  the  little  confidence  which  the  general  in  chief  might  have  had  in 
the.m.ijor  general's  capacity  for  com.mmd,  and  increased  his  desire  to  have  all  the  forces  under  his 
immediate  direction.  Such  evasions  of  orders — such  pretences  to  enterprise,  and  such  sudden 
signs  of  intimidation  in  the  inilith  general,  determined  Gates  to  reach  his  camp  in  person  that  same 
day,  although  it  was  impracticable,  without  retreating  the  militia,  for  a  junction  to  be  formed  until 
the  next.  The  deputy  adjutant  gener.il  had  the  honor  of  attending  the  general  commandant  to  the 
head  quarters  of  the  commandant  of  the  militia.  The  reception  was  gracious,  and  the  general  and 
his  suite  were  regaled  with  wine  and  other  novelties,  exquisitely  grateful  and  pleasingly  exhilarating  j 
but,  a  mm  must  have  been  intoxicated,  not  to  perceive  the  confusion  which  prevailed  in  the  camp — 
tables,  chairs,  bedsteads,  benches,  and  many  other  articles  of  heavy  and  cumbrous  household  stuff. 
were  scattered  before  the  tent  doors  in  great  disorder. 

It  was  understood  that  Gcneril  Caswell  h  id  discovered,  upon  the  last  alarm,  that  by  the  death 
of  horses  and  breaking  down  of  carriages,  he  was  rendered  unabled  to  move,  and  was  making  an 
effort  to  divest  himself  then,  of  his  heavy  baggage.  [If,  in  these  notes,  a  tenor,  censorious  of  General 
Caswell's  conduct,  appears  to  the  reader,  the  writer  begs  that  it  may  not,  as  it  ought  not  to  be,  i 


APPENDIX  B. 

to  any  persona]  prejudice,  or  malicious  motive.  He  never  had  the  honor  of  seeing  the  general  until 
this  time;  and  all  that  he  had  ever  heard  of  him,  was  extremely  favourable  to  his  character  as  a  gen 
tleman  and  a  patriot.  A  regard  to  facts,  to  which  the  writer  thinks  he  may  possibly  hereafter  be 
called  to  testify  on  oath,  obliges  him  to  state  them  faithfully  as  they  occurred,  or  were  communicated 
to  him ;  preserving  the  memory  of  authorities,  as  well  as  incidents,  in  order  to  a  correct  statement  of 
the  circumstances,  about  which  he  may  be  interrogated.] 

On  the  17th  of  August,  the  wished  for  junction  took  place  at  the  Cross  Roads,  about  fifteen  milos 
fast  of  the  enemy's  post,  on  Lynch's  Creek. 

This  event  enlivened  the  countenances  of  all  parties  ;  the  militia  were  relieved  from  their  appre 
hensions  of  an  attack,  and  the  regulars  forgetting  their  fatigues,  and  disdaining  to  betray  the  least 
appearance  of  discontent,  exulted  in  the  confidence  with  which  they  inspired  their  new  comrades; 
a  good  understanding  prevailed  among  the  officers  of  all  ranks,  and  General  Caswell  seemed  satisfied 
with  the  honor  of  being  the  third  in  command. 

The  Baron  De  Kalb  commanded  the'right  wing  of  the  army,  composed  of  the  regular  troops,  and 
General  Caswell  the  left,  of  militia. 

After  the  junction,  which  happened  about  noon,  the  army  marched  a  few  miles  towards  the 
enemy's  post  on  Lynch's  Creek,  and  encamped  in  order. 

The  deputy  adjutant  general,  who  had  as  much  anxiety  as  if  he  had  been  personally  respon 
sible  for  the  fate  of  the  army,  in  order  to  observe  what  guards  were  established  for  the  safety  of  the 
left  wing,  went  with  Lieutenant  Colonel  Ford,  (officer  of  the  day)  at  an  unusual  hour,  to  inspect 
the  lines.  The  guards  and  centinels  of  the  right  wing  were,  as  usual,  attentive,  and  hailed  the 
visiting  rounds  with  that  alacrity  and  spirit  which  inspired  a  confidence  of  security  in  that  quarter; 
but,  in  the  left  wing,  all  was  tranquil.  The  officers  patroled  around  the  encampment  without 
being  hailed  once ;  and  then  rode  into  the  lines  and  among  the  tents,  and  ev  en  approached  the 
marquees  of  some  of  the  general  and  field  officers— one  of  whom  complained  of  being  disturbed,  and 
intimated  that  it  was  an  unseasonable  hour'  for  gentlemen  to  cull.  The  officers  of  the  preceding 
day  were  sent  for,  and  guards  and  patrols  sent  out  to  secure  the  encampment  from  suq)rise. 
The  morning  of  the  Sth  of  August  dawned,  without  revealing  any  appearance  of  an  enemy. 
Under  the  judicious  mask  of  offensive  operations,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  post  on  Lynch's 
Creek  evacuated  it,  and  retired  unmolested,  and  at  leisure,  to  a  much  stronger  position  on  Little 
Lynch's  Creek,  within  a  day's  march  of  Camdcn — which  last  was  strongly  fortified,  and  had  a 
considerable  garrison  under  the  command  of  Lord  Rawdon. 

The  small  posts  which  the  enemy  had  advanced  into  the  country,  were  calculated  to  cover,  the 
parties,  which  were  sent  in  all  directions  to  collect  tlie  forage  and  provisions,  th.it  might  be  found  on 
the  waters  of  Lynch's  Creek  and  131.ick  Rivers,  and  this  business  having  been  already  effected,  the 
posts  were  no  longer  an  object  to  them. 

General  Gates  saw  himself  master  of  the  field,  but  it  was  a  barren  one.  The  troops  still  subsisted 
upon  precarious  supplies  of  corn  meal  and  lean  beef,  of  which  they  often,  did  not  receive  half  a  ra 
tion  per  day,  and  no  possibility  exhisted  of  doing  better,  without  departing  from  the  route  which  the 
general  had  all  along  pertinaciously  persisted  in.  To  have  descended  among  the  fertile  fields  of  Dlack 
River,  would  have  been  leaving  the  garrison  of  Camden  between  the  army  and  the  expected  re-en 
forcements  from  Virginia.  Besides,  the  refugees  of  North  Carolina  repeated  their  assurances  of 
joining  in  considerable  numbers  in  a  few  days. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Waxaw  settlement  offered  the  greatest  prospect  of  a  comfortable  supply  of 
provisions ;  but  it  could  not  be  gained  under  two  or  three  days  march ;  it  lay  too  much  out  of  thf 
^v the  movement  would  look  like  retreating  from  the  enemy,  and  the  srcawpcrs,  as  the  expected 


APPENDIX  B 

volunteers  were  called,  would  surely  desert  the  cause.  There  was  no  deciding — there  was  no  delay 
ing — the  array  marched  unconscious  what  step  was  next  to  be  tak«n.  General  Gates  however,  began 
to  perceive  the  danger  of  approaching  an  enemy,  of  whose  numbers  he  had  no  certain  intelligence, 
incumbered  as  he  was  with  an  enormous  train  of  heavy  baggage,  and  a  multitude  of  \voinen,  and  not 
a  few  children.  An  effort  was  therefore  formed  under  Major  Dean,  and  a  number  of  waggons  were 
appointed  to  convey  to  Charlotte,  all  the  heavy  baggage,  and  as  many  of  the  women  as  could  be 
driven  from  the  line  ;  many  of  the  latter,  however,  preferred  sharing  every  toil  and  every  danger  witk 
the  soldiery,  to  the  security  and  provisions  that  were  promised  them.  The  army  advanced,  but  ap 
proaching  the  enemy's  post  on  Little  Lynch's  Creek,  it  was  discovered  by  good  intelligence,  to  be 
situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  water,  on  commanding  ground,  that  the  way  leading  to  it,  was  over  a 
causway  on  the  north  side  to  a  wooden  bridge,  which  stood  on  very  steep  banks ;  and  that  the  creek 
lay  in  a  deep  nv ,'""  ly  channel,  bounded  on  the  north  by  an  extensive  swamp,  and  passable  no  where 
within  several  miles,  but  in  the  face  of  th<*  enemy's  work.  The  enemy  was  not  disposed  to  abandon 
these  advantages,  without  feeling  the  pulse  of  the  approaching  army;  and  General  Gates  observed, 
that  to  attack  him  in  front,  "  would  be  taking  the  bull  by  the  horns."  It  was  necessary,  for  once,  to 
depart  from  the  shortest  route  to  the  enemy's  principal  out  post — Camden.  The  army  defiled  by 
the  right,  and  Colonel  Hall  of  Maryland,  with  a  detachment  of  about  300  men,  covered  the  left 
flank  until  it  was  out  of  danger  from  surprise,  and  then  formed  the  rear  guard.  This  manoeuvre,  on 
the  llth  of  August,  induced  the  garrison  to  retire  with  some  precipitation  to  Camden,  and  about  the 
same  tim<*  the  Critlsh  garrison,  which  had  occupied  Clermont  (or  Rugley's  Mills,)  on  the  north  road, 
retired  to  the  same  place. 

Lord  Rawdon,  who  commanded  the  advanced  corps  of  the  British  army,  wisely  collected  his 
whole  force  at  Camden,  which,  besides  being  flanked  by  the  River  Wateree,  and  Pinetree  Creek, 
was  considerably  strengthened  by  a  number  of  redoubts. 

As  his  lordship's  emissaries  were  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  he  could  not  fail  to  be  informed, 
that  General  Gates  was  in  his  neighborhood  with  a  brigade  of  regular  troops,  and  two  brigades  of 
militia,  besides  some  snrill  corps  of  artillery  and  cavalry — that  Brigadier  General  Stevens  \v;is  on 
the  same  route,  with  a  brigade  of  Virginia  militia — that  Colonel  Marion,  below,  and  Colonel  Siimpter 
above  Camden,  were  stimulating  their  countrymen  to  re-assume  their  anus  ;  and  that,  in  short,  the 
whole  country  were  ready  to  revolt  from  the  allegiance  which  h;id  been  extorted  from  them  but  a 
few  weeks  be  fore.  He,  therefore,  permitted  General  Gates  to  march  unmolested  to  Clcrmont,  (where 
the  Americans  encamped  on  the  13th,)  and  employed  his  men  in  strengthening  his  post  for  defence, 
until  re-enforcements  might  arrive  from  Charleston,  where  Lord  Cornwallis  was  left  in  command ; 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  having  returned  to  IVew  York  soon  nfier  the  reduction  of  the  former  city. 

Brigadier  General  Stevens  arrived  with  his  Virginians,  at  Clenn  >:.t,  en  the  14th,  and  encamped 
with  the  rest  of  the  army.  On  the  same  day,  (or  the  15th,)  em  inhubiunt  of  Camden  came,  as  if 
by  accident,  into  the  American  encampment,  and  was  conducted  to  head  quarters.  He  affected 
ignorance  of  the  approach  of  the  Americans — pretended  very  great  friendship  for  his  c  untry men, 
the  Marylandcrs,  and  promised  the  general  to  be  out  a^ain  in  a  few  days  with  all  the  information 
the  general  wished  to  obtain.  The  information  which  he  then  gave  was  the  truth,  but  not  all  the 
truth,  which,  events  afterwards  revealed  :  yet,  so  plausible  was  his  manner,  that  General  Gates 
dismissed  him,  with  many  promises,  if  he  woul.l  faithfully  observe  his  engagements.  Suspicions 
arose  in  the  breasts  of  some  of  the  officers  about  head  quarters,  that  this  man's  errand  was  easily 
accomplished; — the  credulity  of  the  gent-nil  was  not  arraigned — but,  it  was  conceived  that  it  would 
have  been  prudent  to  have  detained  the  mnu  for  further  acquaintance* 


492  •     APPENDIX  B. 

Colonel  Sumptcr  of  the  South  Carolina  militia,  ha<J  intelligence  that  an  escort  with  clothing,  anu 
munition  and  other  stores,  for  the  troops  at  Camden,  was  on  the  ro  id  from  Ch  irlcston,  by  way  of 
M'Cord's  Ferry  on  tht:  Congaree  :  and  thnt  it  woidd  necessnrily  piss  the  Wateree  at  a  ferry  about  a 
mile  from  the  town,  under  cover  of  a  sin  dl  redoubt  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  This  intelli 
gence  he  communicated  to  the  general,  requesting  a  small  re-enforcement  of  infantry,  and  two  small 
pieces  of  artillery  to  join  his  volunteers,  promising  to  intercept  the  convoy.  The  colonel's  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  geography  of  the  country,  and  the  qtnlities  of  the  men  who  were  his  followers, 
favoured  the  execution  of  this  enterprise.  The  general  ordered  a  detachment  of  one  hundred  regular 
infantry,  and  a  party  of  artillery,  with  two  brass  field-pieces,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Woolford, 
to  join  Colonel  Sumpter,  and  act  under  his  command. 

To  attract  the  attention  of  the  garrison  in  Camden,  if  they  did  not  choose  to  retire,  which  seemed 
to  be  but  too  confidently  expected  ;  and  to  facilitate  the  execution  of  the  little  expedition  under 
Sumpter,  all  other  objects  seemed  to  be  suspended.  ». 

The  only  stores  winch  were  forwarded  to  the  army  by  General  Stevens,  were  a  few  articles  of 
West  India  produce,  the  principal  of  which  was  molasses.  No  supply  of  provisions  of  any  sort 
was  collected,  more  than  to  serve  from  day  to  day.  The  obscure  route  the  army  had  marched, 
actually  kept  their  friends  ignorant  of  their  movements  ;  and  the  arrival  of  General  Gates  at  Cler- 
mont  was,  when  known,  a  subject  of  more  surprise  to  the  patriots,  than  to  the  enemies  of  the 
country.  It  is  probable,  and  in  the  opinion  of  many,  a  matter  of  no  doubt  whatever,  that  if 
General  Gates  had  taken  a  secure  position  with  his  army,  and  waited  only  a  few  days,  abundance  of 
provisions  would  have  flowed  into  his  camp  ;  and  that,  by  the  addition  of  volunteers  from  the  Caro- 
linas,  he  would  have  acquired  such  a  superiority  over  the  British  army,  which  did  not  much  exceed 
four  thousand  men,  that  he  would  have  found  no  difficulty  in  recovering  the  country  as  far  as 
Charleston;  but,  opinions  are  fruitless.  On  the  15th  of  August,  1780,  General  Gates  issued  the 
following : — 

After  General  Orders — "  The  sick,  the  extra  artillery  stores,  the  heavy  baggage,  and  such  quar- 
e  r-master's  stores,  as  are  not  immediately  wanted,  to  march  this  evening,  under  a  guard,  to  Waxaws. 

u  To  this  order  the  general  requests  the  brigadier  generals,  to  see  that  those  under  their  com 
mand,  pay  the  most  exact  and  scrupulous  obedience. 

'**'  Lieutenant  Colonel  Edmonds,  with  the  remaining  guns  of  the  park,  will  take  post  and  march  with 
the  Virginia  brigade,  under  General  Stevens  ;  he  will  direct,  as  any  deficiency  happens  in  the  artillery 
affixed  to  the  other  brigades,  to  supply  it  immediately;  his  military  staff,  and  a  proportion  of  his 
officers,  with  forty  of  his  men,  are  to  attend  him  and  await  his  orders. 

"The  troops  will  be  ready  to  march  precisely  at  ten  o'clock,  in  the  following  order,  viz: — 

"  Colonel  Armand's  advance;  cavalry,  commanded  by  Colonel  Armand;  Colonel  Porterfield's  light 
infantry  upon  the  right  flank  of  Colonel  Armrnd,  in  indian  file,  t»o  hundred  yards  from  the  road; 
Major  Armstrong's  light  infantry  in  the  same  order  as  Colonel  Porterfield's,  upon  the  left  dank  of 
the  legion. 

«  Advance  cuard  of  foot,  composed  of  the  advance  pickets,  first  brigade  of  Maryland,  second 
brijade  of  Maryland,  division  of  North  Carolina,  Virginia  division;  rear  guard,  volunteer  cavalry, 
upon  the  flank  of  the  baggage,  equally  divided.  • 

"  In  this  order,  the  troops  will  proceed  on  their  march  this  night. 

u  In  case  of  an  attack  by  the  enemy's  cavalry  in  front,  the  light  infantry  upon  each  flank  will  in 
stantly  move  up  and  give,  and  continue,  the  most  galling  fire  upon  the  enemy's  horse.  This  u  ill 
enable  Colonel  Armand,  not  only  to  support  the  shock  of  the  enemy's  charge,  but  finally  to  rout  them ; 
the  colonel  will  therefore  consider  the  order  to  stand  the  attack  of  the  enemy's  cavalry,  be  their  num 
bers  what  they  may,  as  positive. 


APPENDIX  B. 

• 

**  General  Stevens  will  immediately  order  one  captain,  two  lieutenant*,  one  ensign,  three  sergeants, 
one  drum,  and  sixty  rank  and  file  to  join  Colonel  Porterfidd's  infantry  ;  these  are  to  be  taken  froru 
the  most  experienced  woodsmen,  and  men  every  way  the  fittest  for  the  service. 

"General  Caswell  will  likewise  complete  .Major  Armstrong's  light  infantry  to  their  original  number. 
These  must  be  immediately  marched  to  the  advanced  posts  of  the  army. 

"The  troops  will  observe  the  profoundest  silence  upon  the  march;  and  any  soldier  who  offers  to 
fire  without  (he  command  of  his  officer,  must  be  instantly  put  to  death. 

*  When  the  ground  will  admit  of  it,  and  the  near  approach  of  the  enemy  renders  it  necessary,  the 
army  will  (when  ordered)  march  in  columns. 

"  The  artillery  at  the  head  of  their  respective  brigades,  and  the  baggage  in  the  rear. 

u  The  guard  of  the  heavy  baggage  will  be  composed  of  the  remaining  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
artillery,  one  captain,  two  subalterns,  four  sergeants,  one  drum,  and  sixty  rank  and  file ;  and  no 
person  whatever  is  to  presume  to  send  any  other  soldier  upon  that  service. 

u  All  bat  men,  waiters,  &c.  who  are  soldiers  taken  from  the  line,  are  forthwith  to  join  their  regi 
ments,  and  act  with  their  masters  while  they  are  upon  duty. 

u  The  tents  of  the  whole  army  are  to  be  struck  at  tattoo." 

After  writing  this  order,  the  general  communicated  it  to  the  deputy  adjutant  general,  showing  Irim, 
-at  the  same  time,  a  rough  estimate  of  the  forces  under  his  command,  making  them  upwards  of  seven 
thousand.  That  this  calculation  was  exaggerated,  the  deputy  adjutant  general  could  not  but  suspect, 
from  his  own  observation.  He,  therefore,  availed  himself  of  the  general's  orders,  to  call  all  the 
general  officers  in  the  army,  to  a  council,  to  be  held  in  Rugley's  Darn — to  call  also  upon  the  com 
manding  officers  of  corps  for  a  jield  return,  in  making  which,  they  were  to  be  as  exact  as  possible  ; 
and,  as  he  was  not  required  to  attend  the  council,  he  busied  himself  in  collecting  these  returns  and 
forming  an  abstract  for  the  general's  better  information.  This  abstract  was  presented  to  the  general 
just  as  the  council  broke  up,  and  immedi  'y  upon  his  coming  out  of  the  door.  He  cast  his  eves 
upon  the  numbers  of  rank  and  file  present  fit  for  duty,  which  was  exactly  three  thousand  and  fijty- 
tico.  He  said  there  were  no  less  than  thirteen  general  officers  in  council ;  and  intimated  something 
about  the  disproportion  between  the  numbers  of  officers  and  privates.  It  was  replied,  "  Sir,  the 
number  of  the  latter  are  certainly  much  below  the  estimate  formed  this  morning ;  but,"  said  tho 
general,  "  these  are  enough  for  our  purpose."  What  that  was,  was  not  communicated  to  the 
deputy  adjutant  general.  The  general  only  added — "  there  was  no  dissenting  voice  in  the  council 
where  the  orders  have  just  been  read" — and  then  gave  them  to  be  published  to  the  army. 

Although  there  had  been  no  dissenting  voice  in  the  council,  the  orders  were  no  sooner  promulgated, 
than  they  became  the  subject  of  animadversion.  Even  those  who  had  been  dumb  in  council,  said 
that  there  had  been  no  consultation — that  the  ordors  were  read  to  them,  and  all  opinion  seemed  sup 
pressed  by  the  very  positive  and  decisive  terms  in  which  they  were  expressed.  Others  could  not 
imagine  how  it  could  be  conceived,  that  an  army,  consisting  of  more  than  two-thirds  militia,  and 
which  had  never  been  once  exercised  in  arms  together,  could  form  columns,  and  perform  other  mu- 
mEuvres  in  the  night,  and  in  the  face  of  an  enemy.  But,  of  all  the  officers,  Colonel  Arnmnd  took 
the  greatest  exception.  He  seemed  to  think  the  positive  orders  respecting  himself,  implied  a  doubt 
of  his  courage — declared  that  cavalry  had  never  before  been  put  in  the  front  of  a  line  of  battle  in 
the  dark — and  that  the  disposition,  as  it  respected  his  corps,  proceetled  from  resentment  in  the 
general,  on  account  of  a  previous  altercation  between  them  about  horses,  which  the  general  had 
ordered  to  be  taken  from  the  officers  of  the  army,  to  expedite  the  movement  of  the  artillory  through 
the  wilderness.  A  great  deal  was  said  upon  the  occasion  ;  but,  the  time  was  short,  and  the  officers 
and  soldiers,  generally,  not  knowing,  or  believing  any  more  than  the  general,  that  any  considerable 

62 


494  APPENDIX  B. 

• 

body  of  the  enemy  were  to  be  met  with  out  of  Camden,  acquiesced  with  their  usual  cheerfulness, 
.and  were  ready  to  march  at  the  hour  appointed. 

As  there  were  no  spirits  yet  arrived  in  camp;  and  as,  until  lately,  it  was  unusual  for  troops  to  make 
a  forced  march,  or  prepare  to  meet  an  enemy  without  some  extraordinary  allowance,  it  was  unluckily 
conceived  that  molasses,  would,  for  once,  be  an  acceptable  substitue;  accordingly  the  hospital  storef 
were  broached,  and  one  gill  of  molasses  per  man,  and  a  full  ration  of  corn  meal  and  meat,  were  is 
sued  to  the  army  previous  to  their  march,  which  commenced,  according  to  orders,  at  about  ten  o'clock 
at  night  of  the  15th.  But  I  must  arrest  the  progress  of  the  narrative  to  apologize  for  introducing  a 
remark,  seemingly  so  trivial.  Nothing  ought  to  be  considered  as  trivial,  in  an  army,  which  in  any 
degree  affects  the  health,  or  spirits  of  the  troops ;  upon  which  often,  more  than  upon  numbers,  the 
fate  of  battles  depends.  The  troops  of  General  Gates'  army,  had  frequently  felt  the  bad  consequen- 
-  ces  of  eating  bad  provision ;  but,  at  this  time,  a  hasty  meal  of  quick  baked  bread  and  fresh  beef,  witk 
a  desert  of  molasses,  mixed  with  mush,  or  dumplings,  operated  so  cathartically,  as  to  disorder  very 
many  of  the  men,  who  were  breaking  the  ranks  all  night,  and  were  certainly  much  debilitated  before 
the  action  commenced  in  the  raonr'ng. 

It  has  been  observed,  that  the  direct  march  of  the  American  army  towards  Camden,  and  the  pros 
pect  of  considerable  re-enforceraents  of  militia,  had  induced  the  commanding  officer,  Lord  Rawdon, 
to  collect  there,  all  the  forces  under  his  directions.  And  it  is  certain,  that  the  seeming  confidence  of 
the  American  general,  had  inspired  him  with  apprehensions  for  his  principal  post.  Lord  Cornwallis, 
at  Charlestown,  was  constantly  advised  of  the  posture  of  affairs  in  the  interior  of  the  country ;  and,  con 
fident  that  Lord  Rawdon  could  not  long  resist  the  forces  that  might,  and  probably  would,  be  opposed 
to  him,  in  a  very  short  time  resolved  to  inarch  himself,  with  a  considerable  re-enforcement,  to  Cam. 
den.  lie  arrived  there  on  the  1-lth,  and  hnd  the  discernment,  at  once,  to  perceive  that  delay  would 
render  that  situation  dangerous,  even  to  his  whole  force  ;  the  disaffection  from  his  late  assumed, 
arbitrary,  and  vindictive  powrr.  having  become  genVnJ  through  all  the  country  above  General 
Gates'  line  of  march,  as  well  as  to  the  eastward  of  Santee,  and  to  the  westward  of  Wateree 
Rivers.  He,  therefore,  took  the  resolution  of  attacking  the  new  constituted  American  army  in 
their  open  irregular  encampment  at  Clermont.  Both  armies,  ignorant  of  each  other's  intentions, 
moved  about  the  same  hour  of  the  same  night,  and  approaching  each  other,  met  about  half  way  be 
tween  their  respective  encampment?,  at  midnight.  ' 

The  first  revelation  of  this  new  and  unexpected  scene,  was  occasioned  by  a  smart,  mutual  salu 
tation  of  small  amis  between  the  advanced  guards.  Some  of  the  cavalry  of  Armand's  legion  were 
wounded,  retreated,  and  threw  the  whole  corps  into  disorder  ;  which,  recoiling  suddenly  on  the 
front  of  the  column  of  infantry,  disordered  the  first  .Maryland  brigade,  and  occasioned  a  general 
consternation  through  the  whole  line  of  the  army.  The  light  infantry  under  Porterfield,  however, 
executed  their  orders  gallanth' ;  arid  the  enemy,  no  less  astonished  than  ourselves,  seemed  to  ac 
quiesce  in  a  sudden  suspension  of  hostilities.  Some  prisoners  were  taken  on  both  sides  ;  from  one 
of  tht'se,  the  deputy  adjutant  general  of  the  American  army,  extorted  information  respecting  the 
situation  and  numbers  of  the  enemy.  He  informed,  that  Lord  Cornwall!*  commanded  in  person 
about  three  thousand  regular  British  troops,  which  were,  in  line  of  nrm-h.  about  five  or  six  hundred 
yards  in  front.  Order  was  $oon  restored  in  the  corps  of  infantry  in  the  A  merican  army,  and  the 
officers  were  employed  in  forming  a  front  line  of  bat'Je,  when  the  deputy  adjutant  ger.r-ral  r  om- 
munirated  to  General  Gates  the  information  which  he  had  from  the  psisoner.  The  jem-rat's 
astonishment  could  not  be  concealed.  He  ordered  the  deputy  adjutant  general  to  call  another  council 
of  war.  All  the  general  officers  immediately  asseaitled  in  the  rear  of  the  i-r.e ;  the  unwelcome 
Dews  was  communicated  to  them.  General  Gates  said,  "  Gentlemen,  what  is  best  to  be  done  Jn 


APPENDIX  B. 

All  were  mute  for  a  few  moment* — when  the  gallant  Stevens  exclaimed,  *•  Gentlemen,  is  it  not  too 
late  now  to  do  any  thing  but  fii{ht  ?*'  No  other  advice  was  offered,  and  the  general  desired  the 
gentlemen  would  repair  to  thoir  respective  commands. 

The  Baroo  De  Kalb's  opinion  may  be  interred  from  tlie  following  fact :  When  the  deputy  adju 
tant  general  \vcat  to  call  him  to  council,  he  first  told  him  what  had  been  discovered.  u  Well/'*  said 
the  baron,  "and  has  the  general  given  you  orders  to  retreat  the  army  ?"  The  baron,  however,  did 
not  oppose  the  suggestion  of  General  Stevens  ;  and  every  measure  that  ensued,  was  preparatory  for 
action. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Porterfield,  in  whose  bravery  and  judicious  conduct  great  dependance  was 
placed,  received,  in  the  first  rencontre,  a  mortal  wound,  (as  it  long  afterwards  proved,)  and  was 
obliged  to  reiire.  His  infantry  bravely  kept  the  ground  in  front;  and  the  American  army  were 
formed  in  the  following:  order  :  The  Maryland  division,  including  the  Delawares,  on  the  right — 
the  North  Carolina  militia  in  the  center — and  the  Virginia  militia  on  the  left.  It  happened,  that 
each  flank  was  covered  by  a  marsh,  so  near  as  to  admit  the  removing  of  the  first  Maryland  brigade 
to  form  a  second  line,  about  two  hundred  yards  in  the  rear  of  the  first.  The  artillery  was  removed 
from  the  center  of  the  brigades,  and  placed  in  the  center  of  the  front  line  ;  and  the  North  Carolina 
militia  (light  infantry)  under  Major  Armstrong,  winch  had  retreatt'd  at  the  first  rencontre,  was 
ordered  to  cover  a  small  interval  between  the  left  wing  and  the  swampy  grounds  on  that  quarter. 

Frequent  skirmishes  happened  during  the  night,  between  the  advanced  parties — which  served  to 
discover  the  relative  situations  of  the  two  armies — and  as  a  prelude  to  what  was  to  take  place  in 
the  morning.  • 

At  dawn  of  day  (on  the  morning  of  the  iGth  of  August)  the  enemy  appeared  in  front,  advancing 
in  column.  Captain  Singleton,  who  commanded  some  pieces  of  artillery,  observed  to  Colonel  Wil 
liams,  that  he  plainly  perceived  the  ground  of  the  British  uniform  at  about  two  hundred  yards  in 
front.  The  deputy  adjutant  general  immediately  ordered  Captain  Singleton  to  open  his  battery  ;  and 
then  rode  to  the  general,  who  was  in  the  rear  of  the  second  line,  and  informed  him  of  the  cause  of 
the  firm"  which  he  heard.  He  also  observed  to  the  general,  that  the  enemy  seemed  to  be  displaving 
their  column  by  the  right ;  the  nature  of  the  ground  favored  this  conjecture,  for  yet  nothing  was 
clear. 

The  general  seemed  disposed  to  wait  events — he  gave  no  orders.  The  deputy  adjutant  general 
observed,  that  if  the  enemy,  in  the  act  of  displaying,  were  briskly  attacked  by  General  Stevens' 
"brigade,  which  was  already  in  line  of  battle,  the  effect  might  be  fortunate,  anil  first  impressions  were 
important.  u  Sir/'  said  the  general,  "  that's  right — let  it  be  done."  This  was  the  last  order  that 
the  deputy  adjutant  general  received.  He  hastened  to  General  Stevens,  who  instantly  advanced 
with  his  brigade,  apparently  in  fine  spirits.  The  right  wing  of  the  enemy  was  soon  discovered 
in  Kite — it  was  too  late  to  attack  them  displaying  ;  nevertheless,  the  business  of  the  day  could  no 
longer  be  deferred.  The  deputy  adjutant  general  requested  General  Stevens  to  let  him  have  forty 
or  fifty  privates,  volunteers,  who  would  run  forward  of  the  brigade,  and  commence  the  attack. 
They  nere  led  forward,  within  forty  or  fifty  yards  of  the  enemy,  and  ordered  to  take  trees,  and  keep 
up  as  brisk  a  fire  as  possible.  The  desired  effect  of  this  expedient,  to  extort  the  enemy's  fire  at 
tome  distance,  in  order  to  the  rendering  it  less  terrible  to  the  miiiti;;,  was  not  gained.  General  Ste 
vens,  observing  the  enemy  to  rush  on,  put  his  men  in  mind  of  their  bayonets  ;  but,  the  impetuosity 
with  which  they  advanced,  Jiring  and  huzzaing,  threw  the  whole  body  of  the  militia  into  such  a 
panic,  that  they  generally  threw  down  their  loaded  arms  and  tied,  in  the  utmost  consternation. 
The  unworthy  example  of  the  Virginians  was  almost  instantly  followed  by  the  North  Carolinians  ; 
only  a  small  part  of  the  brigade,  commanded  by  Brigadier  General  Grejjorj,  made  a  short  pause. 


456  APPENDIX  B. 

-    .         A  part  of  Dixon's  regiment,  of  that  brigade,  next  in  the  line  to  the  second  Maryland  brigade,  fired  two 
or  three  rounds  of  cartridge.     But,  a  great  majority  of  the  militia,  (at  least  t\vo-ihirds  of  the  army) 
fled  without  firing  a  shot.     The  writer  avers  it  of  his  own  knowledge,  having  seen  and  observed 
every  part  of  the  army,  from  left  to  right,  during  the  action.     He  who  has  never  seen  the  effect  of 
.*»*  a  panic  upon  a  multitude,  can  have  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  such  a  thing.     The  best  disciplined 

troops  have  been  enervated,  and  made  cowards  by  it.  Armies  have  been  routed  by  it,  even  where 
no  enemy  appeared  to  furnish  an  excuse.  Like  electricity,  it  operates  instantaneously — like  sym 
pathy,  it  is  irresistable  where  it  touches.  But,  in  the  present  instance,  its  action  was  not  universal. 
The  regular  troops,  who  had  the  keen  edge  of  sensibility  rubbed  off  by  strict  discipline  and  hard 
service,  saw  the  confusion  with  but  little  emotion.  They  engaged  seriously  in  the  affair ;  and,  not 
withstanding  some  irregularity,  which  was  created  by  the  militia  breaking,  pell  mell,  through  the 
second  line,  order  was  restored  there — time  enough  to  give  the  enemy  a  severe  check,  which  abated 
the  fury  of  their  assault,  and  obliged  them  to  assume  a  more  deliberate  manner  of  acting.  The 
second  Maryland  brigade,  including  the  battalion  of  Delawares,  on  the  right,  were  engaged  with  the 
enemy's  left,  which  they  opposed  with  very  great  firmness.  They  even  advanced  upon  them,  and 
had  taken  a  number  of  prisoners,  when  their  companions  of  the  first  brigade  (which  formed  the 
second  line)  being  greatly  outflanked,  and  charged  by  superior  numbers,  were  obliged  to  give 
ground.  At  this  critical  moment,  the  regimental  officers  of  the  latter  brigade,  reluctant  to  leave  the 
field  without  orders,  inquired  for  their  commanding  officer,  (Brigadier  General  Smallwood)  who, 
however,  was  not  to  be  found  ;  notwithstanding,  Colonel  Gunby,  Major  Anderson,  and  a  number 
of  oth?r  brave  officers,  assisted  by  the  deputy  adjutant  general,  and  Major  Jones,  one  of  Small- 
wood's  aids,  rallied  the  brigade,  and  renewed  the  contest.  Again  they  were  obliged  to  give  way — 
and  were  again  rallied — the  second  brigade  were  stiil  warmly  engaged — the  distance  between  the 
two  brigades  did  not  exceed  two  hundred  yards — their  opposite  flanks  being  nearly  upon  a  line  per 
pendicular  to  their  front.  At  this  eventful  juncture,  the  deputy  adjutant  general,  anxious  that  the 
communication  between  them  should  be  preserved,  and  wishing  that,  in  the  almost  certain  event  of 
a  retreat,  some  order  might  be  sustained  by  them,  hasten,;'.! -from  the  first  to  the  second  brigade, 
which  he  found  precisely  in  the  same  circumstances.  He  called  upon  his  own  regiment,  (the  6th 
Maryland)  not  to  fly,  and  was  answered  by  the  Lieutenant  Colonel,  Ford,  who  said — "  They  have 
done  all  that  can  be  expected  of  them — we  are  outnumbered  and  outflanked — see  the  enemy  charge 
with  bayonets.''  The  enemy  having  collected  their  corps,  and  directing  their  whole  force  against 
these  "two  devoted  brigades,  a  tremendous  fire  of  musketry  was,  for  some  time,  kept  up  on  both 
sides,  with  equal  perseverance  and  obstinacy,  until  Lord  Cornwallis,  perceiving  there  was  no 
cavalry  opposed  to  him,  pushed  forward  his  drngoons — and  his  infantry  charging,  at  the  same  mo 
ment,  with  fixed  bayonets,  put  an  end  to  the  contest.  His  victory  was  complete.  All  the  artillery, 
and  a  very  great  number  of  prisoners,  frll  into  his  hands — many  fine  fellows  lay  on  the  field — 
and  the  rout  of  the  remainder  was  entire — not  even  a  company  retired  in  any  order — every  one 
escaped  as  he  could.  If,  in  this  affiiir,  the  militia  fled  too  soon,  the  regulars  may  be  thought  almost 
as  blamable  for  remaining  too  long  on  the  field ;  especially,  after  all  hope  of  victory  must  have 
been  despaired  of.  Let  the  commandants  of  the  brigades  answer  for  themselves.  Allow  the 
same  privilege  to  the  officers  of  the  corps,  comprising  those  brigades,  and  they  will  say,  that  they 
never  received  orders  to  retreat,  nor  any  order  from  any  general  officer,  from  the  commencement 
of  the  action,  until  it  became  desperate.  The  brave  Major  General,  the  Baron  De  Kalb,  fought  on 
foot,  with  the  second  brigade,  and  fell,  mortally  wounded,  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  who 
stripped  him  even  of  his  shirt  j  a  fate  which  probably  was  avoided  by  other  gencnds,  ouly  by  an 
opportune  retreat. 


APPENDIX  B. 

Th«  torrent  of  unarmed  militia,  bore  away  with  it,  Generals  Gates,  Caswell,  and  a  number  of 
others  who  toon  saw  that  all  was  lost.  General  Gates,  at  first,  conceived  a  hope  that  he  might 
rally,  at  Clermont,  a  sufficient  number  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  regulars  ;  but,  the  farther  they  fled 
the  more  they  were  dispersed  ;  and  the  generals  soon  found  themselves  abandoned  by  all  but  their 
•aids.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Senf,  who  had  been  on  the  expedition  with  Colonel  Sumpter,  returned, 
and  overtaking  General  Gates,  informed  him  of  their  complete  success — that  the  enemy's  redoubt, 
on  Wateree,  opposite  to  Camden,  was  first  reduced,  and  the  convoy  of  stores,  &c.  from  Charleston, 
was  decoyed,  and  became  prize  to  the  American  party,  almost  without  resistance.  That  upwards  of 
one  hundred  prisoners,  and  forty  loaded  waggons,  were  in  the  hands  of  the  party,  who  had  sus 
tained  rery  little  loss  ;  but  the  general  could  avail  himself  nothing  of  this  trifling  advantage.  The 
detachment  under  Sumpter  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Wateree,  marching  off",  as  speedily  as 
mi°ht  be,  to  secure  their  booty — for  the  course  of  the  firing  in  the  morning,  indicated  unfavorable 
news  from  the  army. 

The  militia,  the  general  saw,  were  in  air ;  and  the  regulars,  he  feared,  were  no  more.  The 
dreadful  thunder  of  artillery  and  musketry  had  ceased,  and  none  of  his  friends  appeared.  There  • 
Was  no  existing  corps  with  which  the  victorious  detachment  might  unite  j  and  the  Americans  had  no 
post  in  the  rear.  He,  therefore,  sent  orders  to  Sumpter  to  retire  in  the  best  manner  he  could  ;  and 
proceeded  himself  with  General  Caswell  towards  Charlotte,  an  open  village  on  a  plain,  about 
sixty  miles  from  the  fatal  scene  of  action.  The  Virginians,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  country 
they  were  in,  involuntarily  reversed  the  route  they  came,  and  fled,  most  of  them,  to  Hillsborough. 
General  Stevens  pursued  them,  and  halted  there  as  many  as  were  not  sufficiently  refreshed  before 
his  arrival,  to  pursue  their  way  home.  Their  terms  of  service,  however,  being  very  short,  and  no 
prospect  presenting  itself  to  afford  another  proof  of  their  courage,  General  Stevens  soon  afterwards 
discharged  them. 

The  North  Carolina  militia  fled  different  ways,  as  their  hopes  led,  or  their  fears  drove  them. 
Most  of  them  prefering  the  shortest  way  home,  scattered  through  the  wilderness  which  lies  between 
Wateree  and  Pee  Dee  Rivers,  and  thence  towards  Ro?noke.  Whatever  these  might  have  suffered 
from  the  disaffected,  they  probably  were  not  worse  off  than  those  who  retired  the  way  they  came  ; 
wherein,  they  met  many -of  their  insidious  friends,  armed,  and  advancing  to  join  the  American 
army  ;  but,  learning  its  fate  from  the  refugees,  they  acted  decidedly  in  concert  with  the  victors  ;  and, 
captivating  some,  plundering  others,  and  maltreating  all  the  fugitives  they  met,  returned,  exultingly, 
home.  They  even  added  taunts  to  their  perfidy  ;  one  of  a  party,  who  robbed  Brigadier  General 
Butler  of  his  sword,  consoled  him  by  saying,  "  you'll  have  no  further  use  for  it." 

The  regular  troops,  it  has  been  observed,  were  the  last  to  quit  the  field.  Every  corps  was 
broken  and  dispersed  ;  even  the  boggs  and  brush,  which  in  some  measure  served  to  screen  them 
from  their  furious  pursuers,  separated  them  from  one  another.  Major  Anderson  was  the  only 
officer  who  fortunately  rallied,  as  he  retreated,  a  few  men  of  .different  companies  ;  and  whose  pru 
dence  and  firmness  afforded  protection  to  those  who  joined  his  party  on  the  rout. 

Colonel  Gunby,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Howard,  Captain  Kirkwood,  and  Captain  Dobson,  with 
a  few  other  officers,  and  fifty  or  sixty  men,  formed  a  junction  on  the  rout,  and  proceeded  together. 

The  general  order  for  moving  off  the  heavy  baggage,  &:c.  to  Waxaws,  was  not  put  in  execution, 
.as  directed  to  be  done,  on  the  preceding  evening.  The  whole  of  it,  consequently,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy ;  as  well  as  all  that  which  followed  the  army  except  the  waggons  of  the  General's 
Gates  and  De  Kalb ;  which,  being  furnished  with  the  stoutest  horses,  fortunately  escaped,  under 
the  protection  of  a  small  quarter  guard.  Other  waggons  also  had  got  out  of  danger  from  the  enemy  ; 
but  the  cries  of  the  women  and  the  wounded  in  the  rear,  and  the  consternation  of  the  flyin* 


APPENDIX  B. 

troop?,  so  alarmed  some  of  the  waggoners,  that  they  cut  out  their  teams,  and  taking  each  a  horse, 
left  the  rest  for  the  next  that  should  come.  Others  were  obliged  to  give  tip  il-tii  horses  to  assist  in 
carrying  off  the  wounded  ;  and  the  whole  road,  for  many  miles,  was  strewed  with  signals  oi  dis 
tress,  confusion  and  dismay.  What  added,  not  a  little  to  this  calamitous  scone,  was  the  conduct  of 
Armand's  legion.  They  were  principally  foreigners,  and  some,  of  thru.,  jjiol.ably,  not  unaccus 
tomed  to  such  scenes.  Whether  it  was  o\ving  to  the  disgust  of  the  colonel,  at  general  orders,  or 
the  cowardice  of  his  men,  is  not  with  the  writer  to  determine  ;  but,  certain  it  is,  the  legion  did  not 
take  any  part  in  the  action  of  the  Iflth.  ;  they  retired  early,  and  in  disorder,  and  wtie  seen  plun 
dering  the  baggage  of  the  army  on  their  retreat.  One  of  them  cut  Captain  Lemar,  of  the  Mary 
land  infantry,  over  the  hand,  for  attempting  to  reclaim  his  own  portmanteau,  which  the  fellow  wa< 
taking  out  of  the  waggon.  Captain  Lernar  was  unarmed,  having  broke  his  sword  in  action,  and 
was  obliged  to  submit,  both  to  the  loss  and  to  the  insult.  The  tent  covers  were  thrown  off  the 
waggons,  generally,  and"  the  bajjjage  exposed,  so  that  one  might  take  what  suited  him  to  carry  off. 
General  Caswell's  mess  waggon  afforded  the  best  refreshment ;  very  unexpectedly  to  the  writer,  ho 
there  found  a  pipe  of  good  Madeira,  broached,  and  surrounded  by  a  number  of  soldiers,  whose 
appearance  led  him  to  inquire  what  engaged  the>r  attention.  He  acknowledges,  that  in  this  in 
stance,  he  shared  in  the  booty,  and  took  a  draught  of  wine,  which  was  the  only  refreshment  he 
had  received  that, day. 

But  the  catastrophe  being  over,  Ix-fore  we  pursue  a  detail  of  all  its  distressing  consequences,  it 
may  be  excusable  to  consider,  whether  the  measures  which  led  to  the  necessity  of  fighting  a  general 
battle  were  justifiable?  and  whether  such  an  event  might  not  have  been  avoided,  at  almost  any 
time  before  the  two  armies  were  actually  opposed  ? 

Jf  General  Gates  intended  to  risk  a  general  action,  conscious  of  all  circumstances,  he  certainly 
made  that  risk  under  every  possible  disadvantage ;  and  a  contemplation  of  those  circumstances, 
would  seem  to  justify  Colonel  Armand's  assertion,  made  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day  in  which  the 
battle  was  fought — "  I  will  not,  said  he,  say  thnt  we  have  been  betrayed ;  but  if  it  had  been  the  pur 
pose  of  the  general  to  sacrifice  his  army,  what  could  he  have  done  more  effectually  to  have  an 
swered  that  purpose?" 

General  Gates,  however,  notwithstanding  his  after  order  of  the  15th,  had,  in  the  opinion  of  most 
of  his  officers,  and  particularly  of  the  writer,  no  more  apprehension  of  meeting  the  enemy  in  force, 
than  the  least  informed  man  of  his  army.  The  circuitous  route,  first  recommended  to  him,  would  cer 
tainly  have  been  the  safest  and  best.  Magazines,  an  armory,  an  hospital,  and  even  fortified  posts, 
might  have  been  established,  without  halting  the  effective  force  of  the  army :  posts  to  which  they  might, 
in  case  of  disaster,  have  retired  under  protection  of  the  patriotic  militia  of  Mecklenburg  and  Roan 
Counties;  who  only  wanted  time  to  join  the  army  in  respectable  numbers.  Such  at  least,  were 
their  subsequent  declarations ;  and  such  their  subsqotient  conduct,  rendered  most  probable. 

But,  even  nn  the  route  the  army  had  marched,  the  danger  of  meeting  an  enemy  of  equal  or  supe 
rior  force,  was  passed  when  they  got  into  the  vicinity  of  the  Watcree,  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their 
friend*.  It  was  only  necessary  for  General  Gates  to  have  been  informed  of  the  march  of  Lord 
Cornwallis  from  Charleston,  to  have  avoided,  almost  as  long  as  he  pleased,  a  conflict  between  the 
two  armies. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  it  was  not  too  late,  even  after  Loru  Cornwnllis  reached  Camden. 
Jf,  instead  of  meeting  him,  involuntarily,  General  Gates  had  been  informed  of  his  intended  move 
ment,  and  quietly,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  15th,  have  folkwvd,  with  his  whole  army,  the  detach 
ment  under  Wooliord,  over  the  Wateree,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  armies  to  have  met 
Until  the  next  day,  and  after  the  success  of  Sumpter'e  expedition.  If  his  lordship  should  then  have 


APPENDIX  B.  490 

thought  of  forcing  a  passage  over  the  Watei-ee,  General  G;ites  would  have  had  the  alternative  of 
opposing  him  umler  that  disadvantage,  or  of  retiring  to  any  position  he  might  prefer,  higher  up  the 
river.  Lord  Cormvallis  could  not  have  adventured  the  passage  of  the  river,  much  above  Gates' 
army,  because  the  river  being  fordable  in  many  places,  his  garrison  and  magazines  at  Camden  would 
have  been  jeoparded  ;  the  forces  he  could  afford  to  leave  for  its  defence,  would  have  been  insuffi 
cient  for  half  a  day  ;  and,  if  the  post  and  its  starts  had  been  gained  by  the  Americans,  the  British 
army,  destitute  of  supplies,  would  have  been  obliged  to  retire  towards  Charleston.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  his  lordship  should  keep  his  post  in  his  rear,  he  must  consequently  leave  the  communica 
tion  open  between  the  American  army  and  their  friends  in  the  upper  country  ;  which  would  have 
rendered  more  practicable  the  avoiding  of  a  general  engagement.  But,  these  are  subsequent  re 
flections  on  measures,  the  idea  of  which,  perhaps  never  occurred,  nor  was  suggested  to  the 
general.  Involved,  as  he  was,  in  the  necessity  of  fighting,  the  disposition  which  was  made  for 
battle,  after  the  alarm,  was,  perhaps,  unexceptionable,  and  as  well  adapted  to  the  situation,  as 
if  the  ground  had  been  reconnoitered  and  chosen  by  the  ablest  officer  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States.  (It  was  afterwards  approved  by  the  judicious  and  gallant  General  Greene,  to  whom  the 
writer  had  the  solemn  pleasure  of  showing  the  field  of  battle  ;  and  with  whom  he  had  the  additional 
mortification  of  participating  the  d  mger  and  disgrace  of  a  repulse,  near  the  same  place,  the  very 
next  campaign.) 

The  only  apology  that  GvMveral  Gates  condescended  to  make  to  the  army  for  the  loss  of  the  battle, 
was,  "a  man  may  pit  a  coc!.,  but  he  can't  make  him  fight." — "  The  fate  of  battle  is  uncontrolable" — 
and  such  other  common  maxims  as  admit  of  no  contradiction. 

It  is,  however,  morally  certain,  considering  the  disposition  of  the  citizens  generally,  and  the 
respectable  body  of  militia  that  had  already  joined  the  army,  that  time  was,  of  all  things,  the  most 
importint  to  the  success  of  General  Gates'  army. 

Lord  Cornwallis,  conscious  of  this  truth,  and  of  the  disadvantage  the  least  lapse  would  prove 
to  him — seized  the  first  moment  to  hasten  the  decision  of  an  experiment,  which  was  to  gain  or 
lose  the  country.  For  that  season  at  least;  perhaps  for  ever. 

Generals  Gates  and  Caswell  arrived  at  Charlotte  on  the  night  of  the  action.  The  ensuing  morn 
ing  presented  nothing  to  them  but  an  open  village,  with  but  few  inhabitants,  and  the  remains  of  a 
temporary  hospital,  containing  a  few  maimed  soldiers  of  Colonel  Buford's  unfortunate  corps,  which 
bad  been  cut  to  pieces  on  the  retreat,  after  the  surrender  of  Charleston. 

General  Caswell  was  requested  to  remain  there,  to  encourage  the  militia  of  the  country,  who  were 
to  rendezvous  there  in  throe  days,  (as  it  was  first  intended)  to  countenance  the  reassembling  of  the 
American  army.  General  Gates  perceived  no  effectual  succour  short  of  Hillsboroiurh,  where  the 
general  assembly  of  North  Carolina  were  about  to  convene;  thither  he  repaired,  with  all  possible 
expedition;  and  was  followed  the  next  day  by  General  Caswell,  who  despaired  of  the  meeting  of 
the  militia;  probably  because  he  thought  that  their  first  object,  the  army,  was  annihilated. 

On  the  two  days  succeeding  the  fatal  action,  Brigadier  General  Gist,  who  commanded  the  se 
cond  brigade  of  Maryland  troops,  previous  to  its  misfortune  at  Charlotte,  arrived  with  only  two 
or  three  attendants,  who  Ii^d  fallen  into  his  route.  Several  field  officers,  and  many  officers  of  the 
line  also,  arrived  similarly  circumstanced  ;  -m;l,  although  not  more  thin  about  a  dozen  men  of  dif 
ferent  corps  arrived  in  irr<vjular  squads,  fro;n  time  to  time,  not  less  than  one  hundred  infantry  were 
collected  in  the  village  wiriin  tlvit  time;  bi;sij«  ArrnrxaJ's  cavalry,  which  was  very  liitle  reduced ; 
and  a  small  corps  of  ;.i')u-ited  nilit  a,  wliic'i  retire;!  fiom  the  Wa\s:iw  settlement,  undor  the  command 
of  Major  Davy,  an  enterprising  and  gallant  young  man,  who  had  been  raising  volunteer  cavalry,  to 
join  the  army. 


*00  APPENDIX  B. 

Very  few  of  the  fugitive  militia  resorted  to  this  place. 

Fortunately,  there  was  a  small  supply  of  provision  in  the  to\vn — the  inhabitants  did  all  they 
*ould  to  refresh  both  men  and  officers — and,  by  the  provident  care  of  Colonel  Hall,  of  Maryland, 
a  quantity  of  tiour  was  sent  back  on  the  route  of  the  retreating  troops. 

Brigadier  General  Smallwood,  who  had  the  honor  of  the  second  line,  or  corps  dc  reserve,  assigned 
him  in  the  late  action,  deliberately  came  in  on  the  morning,  (or  about  noon)  of  the  18th,  escorted 
by  one  of  his  aids  de  camp,  and  t\vo  or  three  other  gentlemen,  and  about  as  many  soldiers,  all 
mounted.  His  route  was  by  way  of  the  Wateree. 

The  small  squads  assembled  by  Major  Anderson,  and  the  other  officers  already  mentioned,  were 
on  the  direct  route.  The  latter  were  not  yet  arrived,  but  were  -hourly  expected ;  and  afforded,  in 
addition  to  those  already  collected,  and  those  with  Colonel  Sumpter,  a  prospect  of  forming  such  a 
body  an  might  still  encourage  the  militia  to  form,  at  least  the  semblance  of  an  army,  which  might 
keep  up  some  appearance  of  opposition,  until  the  resources  of  the  union  could  be  called  forth  by 
Congress,  or  by  the  states  most  immediately  interested. 

An  incident,  which  occasioned  great  distress  the  next  day,  must  be  here  related.  It  has  been  ob- 
•served,  that  many  of  the  waggoners  and  retreating  troops  accelerated  their  flight,  by  taking  horses 
from  the  waggons  which  were  left  on  the  route.  In  this  way  many  wounded  officers  and  soldiers 
made  their  escape,  and  bore  with  astonishing  fortitude,  the  pains  incident  to  their  situation.  They 
gave  indeed,  (some  of  them)  proofs  of  the  uttermost  pain  and  fatigue  that  the  human  constitution 
can  bear — others  sunk  under  their  accumulated  distresses.  Those  who  arrived  at  Charlotte,  were 
taken  the  best  possible  care  of — the  horses  were  turned  out  to  graze  in  the  adjacent  fields,  no  forage 
being  provided.  It  should  have  been  remarked,  that  the  tribe  of  Catawba  Indians,  good  friends 
to  the  Americans,  quitted  their  villages  on  the  Wateree,  and  followed  the  remnant  of.  the  army 
towards  the  town  bf  Charlotte,  where  many  of  them  had  already  arrived  5  some  of  them,  in  their 
irregular  way,  fired  a  number  of  guns  after  night,  on  the  18th,  which  gave  a  very  general  alarm ;  and 
many  of  the  people  fled  in  the  night,  taking  as  many  of  the  horses  as  they  could  find,  or  had  occa 
sion  for. 

Another  incident,  much  more  consequential  !  The  morning  of  the  19th  was  fair,  and  the 
officers  were  assembling  about  the  public  square,  and  encouraging  one  another  with  hopes  of  a  more 
favourable  course  of  affairs  than  had  been  current  for  some  time  past,  when  they  received  unques 
tionable  information,  that  Colonel  Sumpter,  whose  arrival  they  looked  for  every  moment,  was  com 
pletely  surprised,  the  preceding  day,  and  the  whole  party  killed,  captured,  or  dispersed.  Dead  or 
alive,  he  was  censured  for  suffering  a  surprise. 

No  organization,  nor  order,  had  yet  been  attempted  to  be  restored  among  the  few  troops  that 
arrived  in  Charlotte  ;  the  privates  were,  therefore,  hastily  formed  into  ranks  j  and  the  officers 
were,  among  themselves,  adjusting  the  commands  to  be  taken  by  them  respectively,  v\  hen  the  num 
ber  of  supernumerary  officers  was  discovered  to  be  very  considerable.  Every  one,  however,  took 
some  charge  upon  himself.  The  care  of  the  wounded — the  collection  of  provisions — and  the  tran- 
»portation  of  the  heavy  baggage,  (preserved  by  Major  Dean's  small  guard)  and  other  matters, 
which  might,  in  any  way,  alleviate  the  geneial  distress,  engaged  the  attention  of  those  who  had  no 
division  of  the  men. 

There  was  no  council,  nor  regular  opinion  taken,  respecting  this  irksome  situation.  The  general 
idea  was,  that  Charlotte,  an  open  wooded  vilhge,  without  magazines  of  any  sort — without  a  second 
cartridge  per  man — and  without  a  second  ration,  was  not  tenable  for  an  hour,  against  superior  num 
bers,  which  might  enter  at  «very  quarter — moreoTer,  it  was  estimated  by  those  who  knew  the 


APPENDIX  B. 

•ccgraphy  of  the  country,  thnt  even  then  the  virtoriors  enemy  might  be  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place. 
It  was  admitted,  by  every  one,  that  no  place  coiiid  b..  more  defenceless. 

Only  one  officer,  who  was  of  the  leyiou,  propose.]  a  temporary  defence,  by  pulling  down  the 
houses  and  forming  a  redoubt,  which  might  induce  die  enemy  to  grant  a  capitulation.  No  respect 
was  paid  to  this  destructive  proposition,  and  the  first  suggestion  prevailed. 

.  Difficulties,  almost  innumerable,  presented  themselves  to  obstruct  a  march — several  officers,  with 
•mall  parties,  were  known  to  be  on  the  route  from  Camden — some  refugees  might  possibly  escape 
from  Sumpter's  detachment — many  of  the  wounded  were  obliged  to  be  left  in  the  old  hospital,  depen 
dant,  probably,  on  the  enemy,  or  on  a  few  of  the  inliabitants  who  were  unable  to  retire — and  even 
some  who  might  have  got  off  on  horseback,  were  deprived  of  the  means  by  the  alarming  incident 
of  the  preceding  night.  Were  all  these  to  be  abandoned  ? 

Time  was  never  more  important  to  a  parcel  of  wretches  than  now  j  but,  how  to  take  it,  whether 
tl  by  the  forelock,"  as  the  adage  is,  or  wait  its  more  propitious  moments,  none  of  us  could  deci- 
»5vely  resolve.  Biigadier  General  Small  wood,  who  quartered  himself  at  a  farm-house  a  little  way 
from  town,  appeared,  at  this  crisis,  approaching  the  parade  in  his  usual  «low  pace.  As  senior  officer, 
his  orders  would  have  been  obeyed,  even  to  setting  about  fortifying  the  village. 

Bu'  being  informed  of  \vhat  has  just  been  related,  and  concurring  in  the  general  senti 
ment,  he  leisurely  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  party,  and  moved  oft'  towards  Salisbury.  The 
deputy  adjutant  general,  and  Brigade  ]\lajor  Davidson,  took  the  route  to  Camdrn,  in  order  to  direct 
all  they  might  meet,  to  file  off  towards  Salisbury.  The  small  parties  that  had  attached  themselves  to 
Colonel  Gunfcy  and  Colonel  Howard,  were  met  near  town,  and  an  express  was  sent  to  Major  An 
derson  who  had,  to  no  purpose,  spent  some  time  in  endeavours  to  bring  off  some  waggons,  which 
had  escaped  beyond  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  and  were  left  without  horses.  By  noon  a  very 
lengthy  Kne  of  march,  occupied  the  road  from  Charlotte  to  Salisbury.  It  consisted  of  the  wretched 
remnant  of  the  late  southern  army ;  a  great  number  of  distressed  whig  families,  and  the  whole 
tribe  of  Catawba  Indians  (about  three  hundred  in  nuaiber,  about  fifty  or  sixty  of  whom  were  war 
riors,  but  indifferently  armed) ;  among  the  rest  were  six  soldiers,  who  left  the  hospital  with  other 
convalescents ;  they  had  all  suffered  in  Buford's  unfortunate  affair,  and  had  but  two  sound  arms 
among  them,  indeed,  four  of  them  had  not  one  arm  among  them;  and  two  only  an  arm  a  piece; 
each  of  them  had  one  linen  garment.  Those  officers  and  men,  who  were  recently  wounded,  and 
had  resolution  to  undertake  the  fatigue,  were  differently  transported;  some  in  waggons,  some  in 
litters,  and  some  on  horseback — their  sufferings  were  indiscribable.  The  distresses  of  the  women 
and  children,  who  fled  from  Charlotte  and  its  neighbourhood.  The  nakedness  of  the  Indians,  and 
the  number  of  their  infants  and  aged  persons,  and  the  disorder  of  the  whole  line  of  march,  conspired 
to  render  it  a  scene  too  pictursque  and  complicated  for  description.  A  just  representation  would 
exhibt  an  image  of  compound  wretchedness—  care,  -anxiety,  pain,  poverty,  hurry,  confusion,  lu> 
mili.tt i(» i  and  dejection,  would  be  characteristic  traits  in  die  mortifying  picture. 

The  inhabitants,  who  had  fled  with  their  families,  soon  began  to  disperse,  and  take  refuge  among 
their  friends  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  The  Catawbas  had  a  district  of  country  assigned  them 
for  hunting  grounds  in  North  Carolina.  Brigadier  General  Smalhvood  continued  the  march  of  the 
regular  infantry  to  Salisbury,  and  arrived  the  third  day  after.  Armand's  legion  proceeded,  as 
they  threatened,  when  it  was  resolved  to  evacuate  Charlotte  :  "  If/'  said  one  of  the  officers,  "  you 
will  make  de  retreat,  we  will  retreat  faster  dan  you!" — they  proceeded  to  Hillsborough.  The 
fertility  of  the  country  between  Charlotte  and  Salisbury — the  hospitality  and  benevolence  of  the- 
inhabitant.* — and  the  numbers  of  their  habitations  en  the  route,  afforded,  in  many  instances,  that 

63 


502  APPENDIX  B. 

relief  which  was  requisite  to  preserve  life  ;  besides,  a  liberal  supply  of  provisions  for  all  this  ca- 
Yalcade. 

It  is  not  known,  whether,  if  the  Americans  had  not  evacuated  Charlotte,  Lord  Cornwallis  would 
not  have  made  it  an  object  to  have  dispossessed  them  ;  but,  as  it  was,  his  lordship  contented  himself 
with  having  defeated  the  southern  army — driven  it  out  of  South  Carolina — and  cut  up  the  only 
detachment  respectable  enough  to  afford  a  head  to  which  the  patriots  of  the  country  might  assemble. 
His  lord.ship  certainly  gave  the  world  another  instance  in  proof  of  the  assertion,  that  it  is  not  every 
general,  upon  whom  fortune  bestows  her  favours,  who  knows  how  to  avail  himself  of  all  the  advan 
tages  which  are  presented  to  him.  Victory  is  not  always  attended,  perhaps  never,  with  all  the 
inperiority  it  seems  to  bestow.  The  British  army  retired  to  Canulen. 

So  unexpected  an  event  gave  the  poor  Americans  time  to  breathe.  General  Smallwood  halted  his 
party  at  Salisbury — selected  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  effective  men — and  sent  the  remainder  per 
haps  fifty  or  sixty  more,  over  the  Yadkin  River,  witli  the  waggons,  women,  &c.  The  effectives  he  uffi- 
eered  according  to.  his  pleasure,  and  permitted  the  fidd  officers,  particularly  those  who  had  not 
formerly  belonged  to  his  brigade,  to  proceed  :o  Hillaborou^h. — Hall,  Williams  and  Howard,  were 
of  the  number,  who  availed  themselves,  at  their  leisure,  of  this  permission.  At  Salisbury,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  or  thirty  miles  from  the  scene  of  the  late  action,  Swalhvood  took  time  to  dictate 
those  letters  which  he  addressed  to  Congress,  and  in  which,  he  intimated  the  great  difficulties  he 
had  encountered,  and  the  exertions  he  had  made  to  save  a  remnant  of  General  Gates'  army.  Let 
ters  which,  with  the  aid  of  those  he  addressed  to  his  friends  in  power,  procured  him,  it  was  generally 
believed  in  the  line,  the  rank  of  major  general  in  the  army  of  the  United  States  j  and  which,  pro 
bably,  promoted  the  resolution  of  Congress,  directing  an  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  General 
Gates.  But,  many  of  the  officers  wrote  to  their  friends  from  Salisbury,  and  being  chagrined  and 
mortified  at  not  overtaking  their  commanding  general  in  so  long  a  retreat,  expressed  themselves  with 
?reat  disgust  and  freedom. 

Major  Anderson,  who  casually  heard  of  the  retreat  of  the  detachment  that  had  surprised  Samp 
ler,  proceeded  to  Charlotte,  where  he  found  the  mHita  inspirited  by  a  change  of  circumstances-, 
disposed  to  organize  themselves,  and  form  such  corps  as  might  protect  the  country  from  the  incursion* 
of  the  enemy,  which  might  be  expected  from  Camden.  They  requested  the  major  to  remain  at 
Charlotte,  and  through  hi).),  ir.vited  General  Smallwjod  *o  return,  importuning  him,  and  evenofferm<* 
him  the  chief  conunr^K!  of  all  the  militia  of  Mecklenburg — General  Casvvell.  their  countryman, 
having,  as  they  alleged,  abandoned  them  even  before  the  expiration  of  the  three  days,  in  which  he 
had  ordered  them  to  assemble  at  Charl<  i<e. 

General  Smallwood,  however,  declined  the  honour  of  tin's  invitation:  and  sent  orders  to  Major 
Anderson,  to  join  lum,  without  dol.iy,  at  Salisbury.  And,  in  order  that  these  instructions  might 
not  be  dispensed  with  on  any  pretence  whatever,  Lieutenant  Colonel  ,1'ord,  the  particular  friend 
of  Anderson,  was  charged  with  them,  and  with  directions  to  expedite  the  march  of  the  party.  The 
order  was  executed,  and  the  mortified  m;litia,  were  left  to  depend  upon  their  own  exertions,  and 
their  own  fortitude ;  which,  notwithstanding  the  discouragements  they  had  met  with,  did  not  fail. 
They  assembled — formed  themselves  into  small  partisan  corps — and  actually  combated  successfully, 
the  first  detachments  of  the  enemy  that  came  afterwards  into  their  country.  These  are  facts  which 
entitle  the  patriots  of  Mecklenburg  and  Waxsaws,  to  a  whole  page  of  euloghiui,  in  the  best  history 
thatslrill  record  the  circumstances  of  the  revolution. 

The  unfortunate  General  Gates,  at  I  liHsborough,  where  the  assembly  of  the  state  had  convened,  hear 
ing  from  the  officers  who  arrived  there,  tint  the  cloisters  of  the  army  were  nut  so  completely  ruinous 
as  he  had  at  first  apprehended,  applied  himself  assiduously  to  the  legislature  for  the  supplies  necessary 


APPENDIX  B. 

-to  re-equip  the  regular  troops.  But  what  supplies,  or  rather  the  quantum,  that  would  be  requisite, 
die  stnvral  could  not  ascertain,  havitij  received  no  returns,  or  reports,  of  any  kind,  from  General 
Sru;di\vood,  who  seemed  to  assume  the  command  of  the  army. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  obtain  the  requisite  information,  and  to  decide,  at  once,  the  doubt  about 
Command,  General  Gates  wrote  explicitly  to  General  Smallwood,  and  ordered  him  to  pass  the 
Y'adkin  Uiver  with  all  the  men  under  his  command,  and  to  proceed  on  the  direct  route  to  Hills- 
borough.  This  order  had  been  anticipated.  It  was  received  by  General  Smallwood,  after  he  had 
passed  the  Yadkin  and  was  on  hb  march  to  Guilibrd  Court  House,  on  the  route  directed.  At 
Guilford,  the  troops  were  halted  fur  refreshment;  and,  as  there  was  a  great  pleiitj*  of  provisions 
in  the  neighbourhood,  General  Smallwood,  without  regarding  the  instructions  he  had  received  frora 
General  Gates,  wrote  to  the  assembly  of  the  state,  intimating  tluit,  with  their  approbation,  he 
would  continue  there  until  other  arrangements  should  be  resolved  on.  The  assembly,  properly, 
declined  interfering  in  matters  which  might  involve  a  question  of  authority  between  two  continental 
officers,  and  referred  the  proposition  of  General  Smallwocd  to  General  Gates.  General  Gates  did 
not  entirely  disapprove  of  the  execution  of  the  proposition  ;•  but,  in  his  letter  to  General  Small- 
wo>l,  he  required,  that  certain  returns,  &c.  should  be  forwarded  to  him  without  delay  ;  and  gave 
such  explicit  intimations,  that  he  was  not  disposed  to  relinquish  his  command  of  the  southern  army, 
as  to  induce  General  Swallwood  to  suspend,  for  the  present,  his  hopes  of  succeeding  thereto.  He, 
therefore,  marrh^J  immediately  to  Ilillsborough,  where  he  arrived  with  the  tattered  remains  of 
the  army,  early  in  the  month  of  September.  Thus  ended  the  campaign  of  17 SO. 

A  Narrative  of  Events  relative  to  tlie  FoutJicrn  Army,  subsequent  to  the  arrival  of  General 
Gold  broken  battalions  at  HillxborottgJi,  1780. 

Hillsborough  had  been  a  place  of  rendezvous  for  all  the  militia  raised  in  the  interior  of  North 
Carolina  ;  and  a  stage  of  refreshment  for  all  the  troops  which  had  marched  from  the  northward  to 
tucrour  Charleston,  or  re-enforce  the  southern  army  ;  consequently,  the  resources  of  the  country 
had  be.-n  generally  collected  and  applied.  What  remained,  did  not  afford  an  ample  supply  even 
for  the  fugitives  of  the  late  array  :  which  were  now  collected  in  the  town,  and  were  cantoned, 
tome  in  the  houses  of  the  inhabitants,  and  some  in  tents  pitched  near  the  court  house,  where  the 
assembly  of  the  state  were  convened.  The  assembly  saw  and  regretted  the  wants  of  the  troops, 
and  did  all  that  was  then  practicable,  for  their  relief.  A  comfortable  supply  of  fresh  meat,  corn- 
meal,  an  1  wheat  flour,  was  procured  for  the  hospital  ;  and  the  rest  of  the  men  were  subsisted  by 
provisions  furnished  by  state  commissaries,  in  part,  and  partly  by  the  old  expedient  of  collecting 
by  detachments — an  expedient  which  gave  great  umbrage  to  the  country. 

At  this  time  Lord  Cormvallis  was,  with  the  principal  part  of  his  army,  at  Canvlen,  where  his  o\vn 
wounded,  and  those  of  the  American  army  were  very  differently  treated. 

The  worse  than  savage  system  of  severity,  suggested  by  the  milice  of  tlio  king's,  minister,  or 
conceived  by  the  malignity  of  the  king  himself,  which  had  been  so  f.iialiy  practised  upon  the  prison 
ers  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  was  now  practised  with  equal  barbarity  on  the  prisoners  taken 
in  the  southern  department.  Every  where  they  were  treated  with  cruel  neglect,  or  insolent  seve 
rity.  The  difference  of  cli, nates  m.ide  some  difference  in  consequences. 

The  same  treatment,  or  rather  worse,  was  suffered  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  who  had 
ever  bei.'n  in  arm;,  or  were  even  suspected  of  disloyalty  ;  some  who  were  accused  of  having  received 
protections,  and  violated  the  conditions,  were  hung  without  any  form  of  trial,  Prompt  punishments, 
/or  supposed  crimes,  were  inflicted  at  the  will  of  superior  officers  in  the  different  British  garrisons, 
and  every  measure  was  adopted,  which  the  arrogance  of  power  could  devise,  to  subjugate  \\\ff. 


APPENDIX  B 

minds,  as  well  as  the  privileges  of  the  people.  The  want  cf  energy  in  thp  union  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  imbecility  of  the  states  themselves,  gave  great  lattitude  to  th-  effect  of  the  British 
measures.  Their  emisaries  were  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  were  but  too  successful  in  the  lower 
Counties  of  North  Carolina,  where  the  inhabitants,  except  in  and  near  the  se;i -port  towns,  began  to 
be  generally  disaffected  to  the  American  cau^e.  Even  in  Chatham  county,  a  considerable  body 
-took  arms  and  threatened  to  disperse  the  assembly  of  the  state  from  Hillsborough;  indeed  so  serious 
was  the  alarm  upon  this  occasion,  that  to  guard  against  a  surprise  of  the  town,  on  a  night  when  the 
insurgents  were  confidently  expected,  all  the  troops  were  kept  under  arms  the  whole  night ;  as  no 
arrangement  h^d  yet  taken  place,  General  Gates  desired  Colonel  Williams  to  command  them.  Tht 
inhabitants  were  ordered  to  arm,  and  even  the  members  of  the  assembly  thought  it  incumbent  on 
them,  to  arm  themselves  also.  The  following  fact  may  illustrate  their  character,  as  well  for  pa 
triotism  as  soldiership. 

It  was  requested  that  a  regular  officer  would  lend  his  assistance  in  arranging  the  militia.  The 
members  of  the  assembly  were  collected  near  the  court  house,  (the  seat  of  government)  and  were 
arming  themselves  when  the  officer  arrived ;  who,  taking  them  for  the  militia  who  stood  in  need  of 
on  adjutant,  began  the  exercise  of  that  office,  and  marshalled  them  in  a  manner  which  showed  no 
respect  for  them  as  legislators.  No  exception,  however,  was  taken  to  the  conduct  of  the  officer. 
The  circumstance  was  mentioned  afterwards,  only  as  one  of  these  ludicrous  incidents  (and  there  were 
many)  which  occurred  during  the  night  of  the  alarm.  Although  the  .alarm  proved  false,  it  proved 
no  less  certainly,  that  the  enterprise  might  have  been  effected  by  a  few  brave  men,  even  on  that  \ery 
night;  the  hurry  and  confusion  which  it  occasioned,  discovered  the  expediency  of  re-establishing 
order  among  the  troops ;  and  every  other  man  seemed  to  feel  the  obligation  of  giving  his  assistance 
as  well  to  provide  for  present  necessities,  as  against  future  contingencies.  Influenced  by  motives 
not  to  be  disregarded,  the  government  of  North  Carolina  soon  began  to  exert  all  its  powers.  The 
second  class  of  the  militia  were  ordered  to  assemble  immediately — commissaries,  quarter  masters 
and  agents,  with  extensive  powers,  were  appointed  to  procure  every  article  requisite  for  another 
campaign — and,  for  want  of  funds,  (for  the  paper  money  of  the  United  States  was  now  depreciated 
below  calculation)  these  officers  were  authorized  to  take,  on  the  account  of  government,  all  military 
stores,  arms,  provisions,  clothing,  &c.  that  were  to  be  found,  and  to  grant  receipts  or  certificates 
for  the  same. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  disasters  of  the  southern  army,  and  a  sense  of  common  danger,  had, 
seemingly,  obliterated  all  recollection  of  forr.rer  differences  and  animosities  among  the  officers  of 
the  regular  corps,  it  ought  not  to  be  dissembled,  that  such  were  among  the  causes  which,  for  a  little 
time,  postponed  the  new  organization  of  the  troops. 

What  cause  General  Gates  had  to  apprehend  the  being  supcrceeded  in  the  command  of  the 
jsouthern  army,  may  be  conjectured  by  those  who  have  a  knowledge  of  facts  ;  but,  what  reason 
General  Smallwood  could  have,  to  hope  to  become  his  successor,  none  who  are  not  grossly  imposed 
on,  can  possibly  imagine. 

The  misunderstanding  between  these  two  officers  was  never,  I  believe,  avowed  ;  but,  as  Gates 
Kassumed  his  command,  Smallwood  retired  from  it. 

General  Gist  was  not  ambitious  of  the  command  of  men  so  circumstanced  ;  and,  in  fact,  many 
ether  officers  wished  for  an  opportunity  of  returning  home  without  a  laurel,  or  a  scar. 

A  board  of  officers,  convened  by  order  of  General  Gates,  determined,  that  all  the  <  fTective  men 
should  be  formed  into  two  battalions,  constituting  one  reeimcnt.  to  be  completely  officer.  1,  and  pro- 
Tided  for  in  the  best  possible  manner  that  circumstances  would  uduiil — die  sick  and  convalescent 


APPENDIX  B.  605 

were  to  remain — but,  all  the  invalids  w?re  to  be  sent  home — and  the  supernumerary  officers  were 
to  repair  to  their  respective  states,  to  assist  in  the  recruting  service. 

The  command  of  the  new  formed  regiment  was  given  to  Colonel  Williamr  and  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  Howard  ;  Majors  Anderson  and  Hardman,  commanded  the  battalions. 

No  sooner  were  these  officers  invested  with  command,  than  they  began  to  restore  order  and  dis 
cipline  among  the  troops;  and  the  colonel,  who  was  inspector  of  the  Marylind  division  of  the 
army  of  the  United  States,  (comprehending  the  quota  of  Delaware  also)  demanded  a  general  order 
before  any  of  the  officers  should  depart,  for  the  most  correct  returns  that  could  be  made,  under 
present  circumstances,  accounting  as  well  for  the  men  as  for  their  arms,  accoutrements,  &c.  &c. 
The  latter  part  of  the  order  could  not  be  complied  with,  in  any  satisfactory  degree;  but,  after  some 
time,  the  officers,  by  comparing  notes,  and  recollecting  circumstances,  rendered  returns,  from  which 
the  following  abstracts  were  taken  : 

TOTAL  of  Maryland  troops  : — Three  colonels,  four  lieutenant  colonels,  five  majors,  thirty-ei^ht 
captains,  fifty  subalterns,  twenty-four  staff  officers,  eighty-five  non-commissioned  officers,  sixty- 
two  musicians,  and  seven  hundred  and  eighty-one  rank  and  file. 

The  numbers  which  were  killed,  captured  and  missing,  since  the  last  muster,  could  not,  with 
any  accuracy,  be  ascertained.  The  aggregate  was,  three  lieutenant  colonels,  two  majors,  fifteen 
captains,  thirteen  subalterns,  two  staff  officers,  fifty-two  non-commissioned  officers,  thirty-four 
musicians,  and  seven  hundred  and  eleven  rank  and  file.  These,  at  least  a  very  great  majority  of 
these,  and  all  of  them  for  aught  I  know,  fell  in  the  field,  or  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  on  the 
fatal  16th  of  August.  It  is  extremely  probable,  that  the  number  killed  much  exceeded  the  number 
taken  prisoners. 

The  Delaware  regiment  being  mustered,  the  return  stood  thus  : 

Four  captains,  seven  subalterns,  three  staff  officers,  nineteen  non-commissioned  officers,  eleven 
musicians,  and  one  hundred  and  forty-five  rank  and  file,  in  actual  service,  £c.  &c.  &c.  Eleven 
commissioned  officers,  and  thirty-six  privates  of  the  Delaware  regiment,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

These  details  may  not  be  unessential  to  those  who  have  been  concerned  in  the  affairs  of  the  late 
campaign  ;  and  may  give  satisfaction  to  those  of  my  friends,  who  may  wish,  hereafter,  to  have  a 
true  knowledge  of  circumstances. 

The  inhabitants  of  Hillsborough  soon  began  to  experience  and  complain  of  the  inconvenience  of 
having  soldiers  billetted  among  them;  and  the  officers  were  equally  sensible  of  the  difficulty  of  restrain 
ing  the  licentiousness  of  the  soldiers,  when  not  immediately  under  their  observation.  Williams,  there 
fore,  drew  his  regiment  out  of  town,  distributing  the  lew  tents  he  had  among  the  several  companies. 
He  encamped  on  a  vacant  farm,  or  rather,  in  the  woodland  belonging  to  it,  and  covered  his  nun 
with  wigwams,  made  of  fence  rails,  poles,  and  corn  tops,  regularly  disposed.  The  tents  were 
chit-fly  occupied  by  the  officers ;  but,  as  they  were  all  much  worn,  wigwams,  were  soon  preferred,  on 
account  of  their  being  much  warmer. 

The  usual  camp-guards  and  centinels  being  posted,  no  person  could  come  into,  or  go  out  of  camp 
without  a  permit.  Parade  duties  were  regularly  attended,  as  well  by  officers  as  soldiers,  and  dis 
cipline,  not  only  began  to  be  perfectly  restored,  but  even  gave  an  air  of  stability  and  confidence 
to  the  regiment,  which  all  their  rags  could  not  disguise.  In  this  encampment  no  circumstance  of 
•want  or  distress,  was  admitted  as  an  excuse  for  relaxing  from  the  strictest  discipline,  to  which  the 
soldiers  the  more  cheerfully  submitted,  as  .he.  saw  their  officers  constantly  occupied  in  procuring 
for  them  whatever  was  attainable  in  their  situation. 


*OG  APPENDIX  B. 

Absloutcly  without  pay;  almost  destitute  of  clothing;  often  with  only  a  half  ration,  and  never 
with  a  whole  one  (without  substituting  one  article  for  another,)  not  a  soldior  was  heard  to  mur 
mur,  after  the  third  or  fourth  day  of  their  being  encamped.  Instead  of  meeting;  and  centering 
in  small  sullen  squads,  as  they  had  formerly  done,  they  filled  up  the  intt-rvals  from  duty,  with 
mainly  exercises  and  field  sports;  in  short  the  officers  had  very  soon,  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
jnen,  who  divested  themselves  of  all  unnecessary  care,  and  devoted  themselves  to  duty  and  past- 
time,  within  the  limits  assigned  them. 

The  docility  and  contentment  of  the  troops  were  the  more  extraordinary,  as  they  were  not 
unfrequently  reminded,  (when  permitted  to  go  into  the  country,)  how  differently  the  British  troops 
•»'cre  provided  for. 

The  article  of  rum,  the  most  desirable  refreshment  to  soldiers,  was  mentioned  among  other  in 
ducements  for  them  to  desert  ;  but,  so  great  was  their  fidelity  to  the  cause,  or  so  strong  their 
attachment  to  their  fellow  sufferers  and  soldiers,  that  they  not  only  rejected  the  most  flattering 
propositions  to  go  over  to  the  enemy,  but  they  absolutely  brought  some  of  the  most  bold  and 
importunate  incendiaries  into  camp,  who  were  delivered  to  the  civil  authority,  and  some  of  them 
punished. 

If  any  of  my  friends  should  inquire  why  I  descend  to  particulars,  so  minute  and  unimportant — 
I  answer,  that  I  am  not  writing  a  history  of  the  revolution,  nor  of  the  proceedings  of  government  j 
and  that  it  is  not  unimportant  for  any  officer  to  observe  every  incident  in  the  life  and  conduct  of  a 
soldier,  which  may,  in  any  degree,  serve  to  illustrate  his  disposition.  The  general  characteristic 
of  a  corps  should  never  be  mistaken,  by  the  commanding  officer  especially.  Misunderstandings 
often  arise  from  it  ;  and  the  consequences  are  usually  what  might  be  expected — unfavorable  both 
to  officers  and  men. 

The  legion  commanded  by  ArmsTnd  was,  on  the  8th  of  September,  sent  to  forage,  and  make  can 
tonments  in  Warren  County,  from  whence  Armand  went  to  Philadelphia,  and  never  returned. 

General  Gates  did  not  conceal  his  opinion,  that  he  held  cavalry  in  no  estimation  in  the  southern 
field.  If  he  judged  by  the  conduct  of  the  legion,  he  ought  to  have  confined  his  opinion  to  that 
corps  particularly — for  subsequent  experience  has  evinced,  that  no  opinion  could  have  been  more 
erroneous. 

Two  brass  field-pieces,  which  General  Gates  had  left  under  a  small  guard  at  Buffalo  Ford,  for 
want  of  horses,  the  first  day  of  his  march  alter  taking  the  command,  were  brought  to  camp  with 
a  few  iron  pieces  picked  up  at  Hills-borough,  and  formed  a  little  park  in  the  centre  of  the  ragged 
regiment  of  Maryland  and  Delaware  troops,  which  constituted  the  southern  ormif,  until  the  lO'tii  of 
September,  when  Colonel  Eufurd  arrived  from  Virginia  with  the  mangled  remains  of  his  unfortu 
nate  regiment,  re-enforced  by  about  two  hundred  raw  recruits,  all  of  them  in  a  ragged  condition ; 
uniforms  and  other  clothing,  were  to  be  sent  after  them,  but  never  arrived. 

About  the  same  time,  a  small  detachment  of  Virginia  militia,  arrived  without  even  arms. 

On  the  It'th,  the  rt'li*  ts  of  Forterfield's  corps,  about  fifty  effective  men,  arrived  under  the  com- 
Biand  of  Captain  Drew,  and  joined  Duford.  Thus  the  remainder  of  those  corps,  which  had  been 
recenily  cut  to  pieces,  without  being  recruited,  or  refurnished  with  clothing,  camp  equipage,  &c. 
necessary  for  a  campaign,  were  hastily  assembled  to  form  the  head  of  an  army,  to  act  against  their 
conquerors. 

The  body  of  the  proposed  army,  was  to  consist  of  militia — the  second  class  principally  of  those 
very  militia,  who  had  so  shamefully  abandoned  some  of  these  same  regulars  at  Cauulen,  but  a  tV\r 
vceks  before. 


APPENDIX  B.  607 

Confident  hopes  were,  notwithstanding,  entertained  that  the  interior  of  the  two  Carolinas,  might 
be  defended  from  the  ravages  of  the  enemy,  until  Congress  might  gain  time  and  find  means  to  do 
•omething  more  effectual. 

The  officers  and  the  men  began  to  recover  their  usual  spirits. 

Brigadier  General  Smalhvood,  weary  of  waiting  events  at  obscure  quarters,  and  dissatisfied  (as 
every  officer  of  real  merit,  naturally  is)  of  rank  without  command  in  time  of  war.  Suggested 
that  as  there  were  two  nominal  regiments,  and  a  company  of  artillery  encamped,  a  nominal  brigade 
might  be  formed,  of  which  he  claimed  the  command,  and  was  gratified.  Captain  Anthony  Singleton 
of  Virginia,  commanded  the  artillery. 

About  this  time,  Colonel  Morgan  of  Virginia,  whose  heroic  conduct  under  General  Mont 
gomery  at  Quebec,  General  Gates  at  Saratoga,  and  other  meritorious  actions,  will  secure  him  an 
honourable  page  in  the  history  of  the  war  in  the  north,  arrived  at  camp,  withort  command,  and 
with  only  two  or  three  young  gentlemen  attending  him. 

The  perfect  security  which  Lord  Cornwallis  imagined  resulted  to  his  posts,  and  to  the  commu 
nications  between  them  ;  and  the  presumption,  that  all  the  lower  part  of  the  country  was  in  a  state 
of  absolute  subjection  and  tranquillity,  in  consequence  of  his  extraordinary,  not  to  sa^  accidental 
«uccess,  induced  him  to  send  a  small  guard  from  Camden,  to  convey  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  his 
prisoners,  principally  regulars,  to  Charleston. 

Colonel  Marion  of  South  Carolina,  who  has  been  mentioned  in  the  previous  part  of  these  narra 
tives,  and  who  oudit  always  to  be  mentioned  with  respect,  had  been  stimulating  his  countrymen  to 
act  in  concert  with  General  Gates,  until  after  the  unfortunate  iCth  of  August,  when  he  and  his  follow 
ers  were  obliged  to  secret  themselves  in  the  swamps  and  deserts  which  intersect  a  considerable  part 
of  the  lower  country.  From  one  of  these  hiding  places,  Marion  suddenly  fell  upon  the  Uritish 
guard,  surprised,  and  made  the  whole  of  them  prisoners.  He  paroled  the  officers,  and  took  a  list 
of  the  privates  to  be  exchanged.  The  American  soldiers  he  sent  off,  with  proper  guides,  to  Wil 
mington — having  first  distributed  among  them  the  arms  of  their  captors.  A  circumstance  so 
'  honourable  for  a  small  squad  of  militia,  particularly  for  their  commanding  officer,  ought  lonij  to  be 
remembered  with  admiration.  Marion  and  his  men  retook  to  the  swamps. 

On  report,  in  camp,  of  this  fortunate  event,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Commandant  Ford, 'who  had 
not  availed  himself  of  the  permission  for  supernumeraries  to  return  home,  went  to  Wilmington  to 
meet  the  release  1  captives,  and  to  conduct  them  to  camp  ;  but,  as  they  had  been  subject  to  very 
little,  or  no  control,  after  their  releascment,  being  without  any  of  their  own  officers,  and  doubting 
of  the  existence  of  any  considerably  body  of  their  fellow  soldiers,  many  of  them  repaired  home  with 
all  the  expedition  th°y  conl!  rn:ike.  Colonol  ForJ  did  not  recover  more  than  about  one  h.ilf  of  the 
•umber  released  by  Marion  ;  and  these,  fnrn  their  suffering;  in  captivity,  their  long  and  circuitous 
march  from  Camden  to  Wilmington,  arid  thence  by  Cross  Cr^ek  to  HilLsborough,  and  their  want 
of  al;nost  all  the  necessary's  of  lit>.  were  very  little  tit  for  service. 

While  the  American  troops  were  collecting  at  Hillsborough,  measures  were  taken  by  the  stat« 
•f  North  Carolina,  to  expedite  the  embodying  of  the  second  cl;i*s  of  their  militia. 

To  intimidate  the  people  from  complying  wiih  the  requisitions  of  Government — to  collect  forage 
and  provisions — and  probably  with  an  expectation  of  striking  terror  through  the  country,  Lord 
Cornwallis  moved  from  Camden,  (in  October)  with  a  consider.ibL-  body  of  troops,  lightly  equipped, 
vhioh  he  led  immediately  to  the  town  of  Ch:ul;tte.  and  from  t'  ence,  mrma-uvred  about  the  country 
as  far  north  as  Phifer's  Mills.  Cut,  although  his  lonl>hij>  co::M,  and  would  <jo  where  he  pleased, 
he  found  himself  much  less  at  ease  in  this  ;-.irt  of  the  country,  than  in  any  other  situation  he  had 
experienced.  The  militia  of  Mecklenburg,  and  of  Roan,  the  most  inflexible  wings  in  the  whole 


APPENDIX  13. 

etate,  were  continually  in  his  presence.  He  could  make  no  movement  without  being  observed- 
no  negligence  could  be  committed  on  his  part,  of  which  /•'•  /  -.ii.l  n^t  u^e  advent ige.  .V'tjor 
Davie,  with  his  mounted  volunteers,  equipped  as  dragoons,  s.-ini-'i-;-.: .;  inK-rcepted  his  convoys  of 
provisions — sometimes  disturbed  liis  pickets — and  even  once  or  twice,  insulted  the  van  of  his  army 
an  its  march. 

These,  however,  were  feeble  and  ineffectual  resistances ;  hislord>ii!p  c->v!d  "20  whore  he  pleased." 
This  incursion  of  his  lordship  into  the  strongest  part  of  the  st.t'  ,  itirni-lated  the  exertions  of 
the  legislature,  in  measures  to  organize  and  equip  their  milhia  for  fe  field.  They  begun  to  ren 
dezvous  in  considerable  numbers  at  Salisbury.  Sin.il'tWMod  wa.s  co.-.iMlnonted  with  a  request  of 
the  executive,  to  take  the  command  of  them,  Caswell's  confidence  in  the  courage  of  his  countrymen 
not  being  yet  restored  ;  and  it  was  presumed  that  the  militia  woid  I  act  with  more  subordination,  and 
perhaps,  with  more  bravery  under  a  continental  general,  than  under  cr;c  of  their  own  neighbours. 

After  making  some  conditions,  about  horses  lor  himself  and  his  suite,  the  general  accepted  the 
honour. 

At  the  same  time,  it  was  contemplated  to  send  forward  as  many  of  the  regular  truops,  as  could 
be  tolerably  equipped  for  service;  and  it  fortunately  happened  that,  at  that  time,  the  state  agents  had 
forwarded  to  Hillsborough,  a  small  supply  of  coarse  clothing  and  other  articles  convenient  for  the 
purpose. 

General  Gates  ordered  a  committee  to  attend  to  the  equitable  distribution  of  these  stores,  among 
the  regular  corps.  But  first,  an  appropriation  was  to  be  made  for  equipping  four  companies  of 
light  infantry,  to  be  drafted  from  the  regiments,  and  destined  to  form  a  part  of  the  corps,  to  be  sent 
in  advance. 

The  execution  of  this  part  of  the  plan,  commenced  on  the  19th  of  October,  the  day  the  clothing 
arrived,  and  was  very  soon  completed.  The  four  companies  of  infantry  were  formed  into  one 
battalion,  the  command  of  which  was  obtained  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Howard.  About  the  2d  of 
November,  Lieutenant  Colonels  White  and  Washington,  came  to  camp  with  a  very  few  effectives, 
of  the  first  and  third  regiments  of  dragoons,  which  had  also  been  surprised,  routed,  defeated  and  cut 
to  pieces  the  preceeding  spring.  U  lute  had  leave  to  go  to  Philadelphia,  and  Washington  remained 
in  command  of  the  remnants  of  both  corps,  consisting  of  sixty  or  seventy  effectives. 

These  corps  joined  the  light  infantry  on  their  march  towards  Charlotte.  A  small  corps  of  riflemen 
(say  60)  under  Major  Rose,  had  also  joined  the  light  infantry  at  HHLsborough.  The  gallant  Colonel 
Morgan,  then  took  the  command  of  all  the  light  troops,  and  proceeded  with  them  towards  Char 
lotte.  He  found  the  militia  under  Smalhvood,  advanced  as  far  as  the  Old  Trading  Ford  on  the  Yad- 
kin  River,  seven  miles  from  Salisbury,  in  safety.  Lord  Cormvallis,  without  any  known  adequate 
cause,  thought  proper  to  retire  through  Charlotte,  cross  die  V.'ateree  River,  and  encamp  at  Winns- 
borough.  It  is  not  probable,  that  he  was  deceived  by  any  exaggerated  account  of  the  new  levied 
militia;  nor  is  it  probable,  that  he  had  any  fears  from  the  relics  of  the  corps  he  had  so  recently, 
cut  to  pieces.  His  lordship  had  been  fatigued  by  the  insolence  of  the  volunteers,  and  chose  to 
retire  to  a  camp  of  repose. 

Colonel  Williams  succeeded  General  Small  wood  in  the  command  of  the  brigade  of  continental 
troops.  The  diminution  of  its  numbers,  by  the  draft  of  four  companies  of  light  infantry  was,  in 
part,  restored  by  the  arrival  of  recruits  from  Maryland  and  Virginia.  These  were  constantly  at 
the  drill.  A  laboratory  was  erected,  and  employed  mending  arms  ;and  the  residue  of  the  clothing, 
&c.  was  distributed.  Each  man  in  the  brigade  was  supplied  with  one  new  shirt,  a  short  coat,  a  pair 
of  woollen  overalls,  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  a  hat  or  a  cap.  The  dividend  of  blankets  was  very 
Inadequate  to  the  occasion — they  were  apportioned  to  the  companies ;  and  every  other  practicable 


APPENDIX  B. 

provLsion  was  nmle  to  prepare  the  brig-vle  for  the  field.  The  officers  exerted  themselves,  and  tho 
soldiers  were  emulous  who  should  be  the  first  in  readiness  to  march.  Even  the  convalescents  were 
impatient  of  being  l^ft  behind — fo  generally  had  the  martial  spirit  revived  jn  the  soldiery. 

The  brigade  marched  on  the  second  clay  of  November,  immediately  after  the  light  dragoons, 
with  two  brass  field-pieces,  some  ammunition-waggons,  ar.d  a  small  train  of  baggage.  They  fol 
lowed  the  rout  of  the  light  infantry  to  Charlotte,  where  they  encamped. 

The  militia  under  Smallwood,  had,  apparently,  taken  a  permanent  position  at  Providence,  about 
fourteen  miles  south  of  Charlotte  ;  and  Morgan,  now  brigadier  general,  was  itinerant  with  his 
infantry  about  the  Wateree. 

•  Lord  Cornwall!;*  continued  with  the  principal  part  of  his  forces  at  Winnsborough,  and  kept  up 
the  garrisons  of  Camden  and  Clermont.  m 

Such  were  the  relative  situations  of  the  armies,  when  General  Greene  arrived  at  Charrotte  the 
4th  of  December,  17SO. 

Charlotte. — When  General  Gates  had  reviewed;  and  contemplated  his  situation  at  Charlotte, 
he  considered  it  the  most  eligible  place  to  encamp  for  the  winter,  with  the  principal  part  of  his 
army.  The  light  troops  were  to  keep  the  field,  and  to  act  as  an  advance-guard.  With  this 
view,  he  ordered  preparations  to  be  made  for  building  huts,  and  directed  General  Morgan  to  make 
a  foraging  excursion  towards  Camden.  On  the  very  day  of  General  Greene's  arrival,  and  after 
he  had  assumed  the  command  of  the  army,  Morgan  reported  that  he  had  made  a  tour  into  the 
country,  in  the  vicinity  of  Camden,  but  found  the  cattle  were  taken  oiT,  and  so  little  grain  or 
forage  left,  as  to  make  it  scarcely  worth  the  fatigue  of  the  troops  ;  but,  that,  fortunately,  an  event 
had  taken  place,  which  made  some  compensation  for  their  toil. 

Mr.  Rugely,  proprietor  of  the  farm  called  Clermont,  had  obtained  the  rark  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
in  the  British  army,  and  had  obtained  that  of  major  for  his  son-in-law  ;  these  two  officers,  with  about 
one  hundred  British  troops  and  new  levies,  occupied  a  large  log  barn  (the  old  council  chamber)  which 
they  fortified  by  a  slight  entrenchment  and  a  line  of  abbatis,  so  as  to  render  it  impregnable  to 
small  arms.  This  post  was  on  the  left  of  Morgan's  route,  as  he  returned  from  foraging — but  too 
near  to  Camden  for  him  to  risk  any  thing  like  a  siege  or  blockade.  It  was  suggested  that  the 
cavalry  might  go  and  reconnoitre  it — Washington,  pleased  with  the  idea,  approached  so  near,  as  to 
disco'ver  that  the  enemy  had  discovered  him  and  were  intimidated.  He  humourously  ordered  his 
men  to  plant  the  trunk  of  an  old  pine  tree,  in  the  manner  of  a  field-piece,  pointing  towards  the  gnr- 
rison — at  the  same  time,  dismounting  some  of  his  men  to  appear  as  infantry,  and  displaying  his 
cavalry  to  the  best  advantage,  he  sent  a  corporal  of  dragoons  to  summon  the  commanding  officer 
to  an  immediate  surrender.  The  order  was  executed  with  so  firm  a  manner,  that  Colonel  l\u<rly 
did  not  hesitate  to  comply  instantly;  and  the  whole  garrison  marched  out  premiers  of  w;ir. 

The  corporal  was  made  a  sergeant  of  dragoons — the  old  fort  was  set  on  firej  find  Washington 
retired  with  his  prisoners  without  exchanging  a  shot. 

Soldiers,  like  sailors,  have  always  a  little  superstition  about  them. 

Although  neither  General  Gates  nor  General  Greene,  could  be  considered  as  having  any  agency 
in  this  little  successful  affair,  it  w;is  regarded  by  some,  and  even  mentioned,  as  a  presage  of  the 
future  good  fortune  which  the  army  would  derive  from  the  genius  of  the  latter.  Cut  I  have  snpn- 
ceeded  my  old  friend  rather  abruptly,  and  with  almost  as  little  ceremony,  as  it  was  directed  by 
congress.  As  I  approach  the  close  of  this  narrative  I  assume  the  epistolary  stylo,  in  which  I  intend 
to  make  all  my  future  remarks,  as  they  may  thus  be  more  easily  transcribed  for  communication.' 

The  letters  which  were  addressed  to  congress,  respecting  the  overthrow  of  his  whole  army,  W«TI» 
so  vague  and  unsatisfactory;  and  others  which  were  written,  were  so  d'ucngenous,  that  it  was  cnn- 

64 


510  APPENDIX  B. 

ceived  by  congress  absolutely  requisite  to  have  a  full  inquiry  into  tlie  circumstances  of  the    campaign 
and  conduct  of  the  commanding  officer. 

General  Washington,  was  requested  to  nominate  an  officer  to  supercede  General  Gates,  and  it 
was  resolved  that  a  court  of  inquiry  should  be  held,  of  which  major  general  the  Baron  Stcubcu 
was  appointed  president.  General  Greene,  whom  General  W  ashington  distinguished  by  an  election 
to  the  command  of  the  southern  army,  arrived  as  before  observed,  at  head  quarters  the  4th  of  De 
cember  1780  with  full  powers. 

A  manly  resignation  marked  the  conduct  of  General  Gates  on  the  arrival  of  his  successor,  whom 
he  received  at  head  quarters  \rith  that  liberal  and  gentlemanly  air  which  was  habitual  to  him. 

General  Greene  observed  a  plain,  candid,  respectful  manner,  neither  betraying  compassion  nor 
the  want  of  it — nothing  like  the  pride  of  official  consequence  even  seemed.  In  short,  the  officers 
who  were  present,  had  an  ele-jaut  lesson  of  propriety  exhibited  on  a  most  delicate  and  interesting 
occasion. 

General  Greene  was  announced  to  the  army  as  commanding  officer,  by  General  Gates ;  and  the 
same  day  General  Greene  addressed  the  army,  in  which  address,  he  paid  General  Gates  the  com 
pliment  of  confirming  all  his  snnding  orders. 

The  detention  of  the  Baron  Steuben  in  Virginia,  and  no  major  general  being  present,  or  autho 
rized  to  serve  in  his  stead,  made  it  impracticable  to  hold  the  court  of  inquiry  at  this  time  or  place. 
General  Gates,  therefore,  with  the  approbation  of  General  Greene,  repaired  to  Philadelphia,  in 
order  to  meet  the  charges  and  to  counteract  the  calumnies  against  him. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  narrative  without  remarking,  that  a  soldier's  f;une  is  always  precarious 
during  his  life.  If  General  Gales  had  fallen  at  the  commencement  of  the  action  of  Camden,  who 
would  not  have  acceded  to  the  opinion,  that  the  disasters  of  the  day  were  owing  principally  to  that 
circumstance  ?  The  laurels  of  Saratoga  would  have  been  ever  green  on  his  tomb,  and  history 
would  have  exulted  in  the  merits  of  the  hero. 

What  difference,  in  point  of  real  merit,  would  there  have  been,  (or  could  there  be)  between  fall 
ing  bv  an  carlv,  accidental  >hot,  or  submitting  to  the  irresistible  impulse  of  the  militia,  who  went 
like  a  torrent  from  the  field,  forcing  almost  every  thing  before  them?  And  yet,  what  a  difference 
in  the  public  opinion  !  !  In-tt-:d  of  praises,  panegeric,  and  monumental  honours,  he  was  censured, 
calumniated,  and  even  condemn?.!,  unheard. 

The  severity  of  this  treatn.cn!  was  aggravated  by  a  recent  event,  which  was  carefully  kept  from 
his  knowledge  "while  in  camp,  but  which  too  soon  overwhelmed  him  in  distress.  His  only  son, 
an  elegant  voting  man,  well  educated,  ai*d  ju»t  entering  into  active  scenes  of  life,  was  suddenly  cut 
cfi'by  the  stroke  of  death. 

None  but  an  unfortunate  solJier,  and  a  father  left  chiLIL'ss,  could  assimulate  his  feelings,  to  those 
of  tliis  unhappy  gentleman — yet  many  sympahtized  with  him, remembered  his  former  public  services 
wished  for  the  return  of  tranquillity  to  his  alilicted  rnind,  and  hoped,  even  for  a  restoration  of  his 
honours. 

General  Greene  took  great  pain-;  to  collect  the  bc«-t  information  relative  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  late  campaign ;  an:l  his  communications  to  intlueniial  chnr.icters,  finally  determined  congress  to 
rescined  their  resolution  r»\>p<v::r.j  General  Gates,  ami  to  restore  him  to  his  command  in  the  northern 
arrav. 


APPENDIX  C. 


(See  page  471.J 


ON  THE  ABORIGINES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

JL  HIS  unhappy  race  of  beings,  were  still  numerous  and  warlike,  and  they  had  strong  reasons  for 
attaching  themselves  to  the  royal  cause.  At  the  commencement  of  the  settlement  of  the  Southern 
Colonies,  their  numbers,  from  the  Capo  Fear  River  to  the  Gulf  of  Florida,  must  have  been  great- 
A  mild  climate,  abundance  of  game,  and  great  facility  in  obtaining  fish  and  oysters,  had  spread  them 
along  the  sea  coast  in  innumerable  villages.  To  this  day  the  heaps  of  shells,  and  fields  strewed 
with  their  fragments  (broken  small  for  want  of  iron  instruments  to  open  them)  attest,  both  the  an 
tiquity  and  numbers  of  the  aborigines.  And  the  accounts  of  Varazani  and  Jean  Ribaut,  a»  well  as 
of  the  early  English  colonists,  all  concur  in  representing  the  population  of  this  coast,  as  very  consi 
derable.  It  is  probable  that  an  accumulation  of  population  in  this  region,  is,  in  some  measure, 
attributable  to  the  conquests  of  the  Six  Nations.  Those  Nimrods  of  their  time,  had  extended  their 
dominion  along  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  as  far  as  the  head  waters  of  the  Savannah  River,  and 
down  the  Cape  Fear  to  its  mouth.  A  colony  of  the  Senecas,  one  of  the  Six  Nations,  was  found 
upon  the  former  stream,  and  of  the  Tuscaroras,  another  member  of  the  confederacy  of  the  Six 
Nations  at  the  mouth  of  the  latter.  The  powerful  nation  of  the  Caltapows,  now  called  Catawbas, 
and  for  merly  Katarbas,  was  probably  the  barrier  against  their  progress  down  the  streams,  lying 
south  of  the  Cape  Fear.  This  nation  was  attacked  by  r.  war-party  from  the  Six  Nations,  on  the 
principles  of  immemorial  hostility  as  low  down  as  within  the  memory  of  persons  still  living.  And 
the  nations  inhabiting  the  coast  of  South  Carolina,  never  acknowledged  themselves,  in  any  respect 
a  dependant  people.* 


"The  following  anecdote  illustrates  the  manners  of  a  people,  Exhibiting  many  pe culiar  and  striking  charac 
teristics.  It  never  has  been  before  committed  to  paper  ;  but.  is  related  from  the  testimony  of  an  eye  witness,  of 
perfect  respectability,  who  communicated  it  to  the  author- 

The  Ciitawbas  inhabit  a  territory  of  ten  ir.iles  square,  included  within  the  bounds  of  South  Carolina.  All  the 
other  Indian  natives  having  retired  before  the  whites,  ai;d  the  settlements  of  tbo  colonists  having  spread  near  a 
thousand  miles  between  them  and  their  hereditary  enemy,  the  Cataubi?  had  lived  ma;iy  years  in  the  most  undis 
turbed  tranquillity  :  and,  of  consequence,  had  lost  much  of  their  warlike  character,  besides  being  reduced,  com 
paratively,  to  a  handful.  Thus  circum--tanced,  about  the  year  seventy,  they  were  suddenly  invaded  by  a  very 
superior  enemy,  a  war-party  of  the  Si*  Nations  ;  a  number  wrre  scalped,  and  the  rest  driven  for  shelter  into 
the  town  of  Camden,  about  thirty  or  forty  miles  distant  from  their  settlement.  Great  alarm  was  spread  through 
the  country  by  an  inroad  so  entirely  unlocked  for,  but  the  people  of  the  vicinity  promptly  collected,  and  joining 
the  Indians,  advanced  to  attnnk  the  invaders.  The  latter  were  easily  repulsed — a  few  were  L'lled — and  one  war- 


512  APPENDIX  C. 

A  short  time  prior  to  trie  settlement  of  Charleston,  the  numbers  of  the  natives,  had  been  greatly 
reduced  by  die   small   pox.     This  disease  was  communicated  from  Virginia,  and  the   erratic  hubitfi 


rior,  a  very  handsome  young  man,  was  made  prisoner,  conteyed  (o  the  Cntawba  encampment,  andput  in  charge 
wf  the  old  men  and  women,  whilst  the  warriors  were  following  the  trace  of  their  enemy. 

One  of  the  women,  wlio  ha.l  lost  a  relative,  immediately  adopted  the  prisoner;  nnd  on  the  return  of  the 
chiefs,  he  wes  found  quietly  inhabiting  her  wigwam,  seemingly  as  little  occupied  about  ulterior  possil.i'ities,  as 
any  individual  in  the  nation.  But,  a  council  of  chiefs  being  called,  it  wa*  decided  that,  according  to  immemorial 
mage,  the  prisoner  must  die  in  torments — tbfit  their  children  may  not  degenerate  from  the  virtues  of  their  ancei- 
tors.  The  prisoner  was  aocorJi/^Jy  ordered  to  prepa.-e  himself  for  such  an  exhibition  on  a  certain  day;  and  the 
decree  having  got  abroad,  a  number  of  the  whites,  whose  curiosity  got  the  better  of  better  feelings,  attended  to 
witness  this  national  ar.to  da  ft.  The  poor  fellow  awaited  the  day  in  perfect  tranquillity,  keeping  count,  inthe 
Jidian  mode,  with  a  bundle  of  small  sticks,  one  of  which  was  removed  every  evening.  When  but  one  remained, 
be  sedulously  decorated  himself  for  the  sacrifice,  in  nil  "  the  pomp  and  circumstance"  of  an  Indian  warrior — on* 
of  the  most  hideous  exhibitions  that  human  invention  can  combine? 

On  the  appointed  day  and  hour,  he  left  his  wigwam,  and  with  a  firm  step,  and  composed  countenance — not  a 
muscle  expressing  a  care  or  apprehension — advanced  to  the  public  square,  where  every  thing  was  in  preparation, 
to  recieve  him,  tecundum  mores  ma  jorum.  The  stake — the  fire — the  faggots,  and  lightwood  splinters,  were  all 
in  teadiness  ;  and  the  children,  male  and  female,  in  concentric  circles,  arranged  according  to  size,  surrounded 
the  stake.  The  warriors  were  variously  disposed  of,  as  the  constitutional  actors  in  the  diabolical  exhibition 

But,  the  prisoner  came  not  alone — his  patroness  followed  behind  him,  and  he  moved  forward,  equally  uncon- 
friotis  of  her  views  and  her  presence.  But,  her  right  hand,  wrapped  beneath  her  blanket,  held  the  instrument 
of  his  deliverance  ;  and  the  moment  be  entered  the  circle,  her  tomahawk  sunk  deeply  into  the  back  of  his  head. 
nnd  disappointed  his  tormentors.  No  one  murmured  at  the  disappointment,  for  this  also  was  according  to  ac 
knowledged  principles — it  was  the  last  solemn  act  of  friendship,  that  one  Indian  could  perform  for  another. 

The  subsequent  conduct  of  these  wretched  beings,  scarcely  admits  of  relation  ;  but,  a  council  was  imme 
diately  held  to  determine  the  mufti  ma  jo  rum,  or,  international  law,  on  this  new  state  of  facts  ;  and,  the  heart  of  the 
»ittiro  being  taken  from  his  body,  was  divided  into  small  pieces,  and  distributed  among  the  children.  We  will 
•pare  the  reader  the  disgusting  recital  of  what  followed. 

1  his  curious  peculiarity  among  the  aborigines  of  North  America,  of  passing  by  adoption  from  one  nation  to  ano 
ther,  and  more  especially,  the  absolute  moral  and  physical  transmigration  consequent  upon  if,  will  appear  89 
Inr  redibl'?  to  many  readers,  as  t!ie  pa-s've  acquiescence  of  prisoners  made  in  war,  to  the  dreadful  torments  to  which 
they  were  liable  to  be  subjected.  Yet,  they  are  both  supported  by  the  authority  of  every  writer  who  has  at 
tempted  to  delineate  their  character;  and  by  many  well  attested  narratives,  transmitted  under  circumstance* 
which  leave  no  cause  to  suspect  their  authenticity.  Charlevoix  relates  one  very  curious  instance  of  the  kind, 
which  occurred  in  Canada;  and,  in  pll  the  early  and  very  minute  narratives  which  we  have  received  from  the 
first  sett'ers  of  the  colonies,  we  6nd  signal  instances  of  an  apparent  transfer  of  even  feelings  and  int>>rets  conse 
quent  upon  being  made  prisoner. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  name  the  folly  which  bas  not  been  made  the  national  point  of  honour  among  rude  and 
burbnrous  nations;  or,  perlrips,  it  would  not  be  too  much  to  add,  among  mi.ny  nations  considerably  advanced  in 
civilization.  In  the  present  instance,  we  find  thr  opinions  and  customs  of  the  savage  of  North  Ami  rica.  not  dif. 
fering  very  widely  from  those  of  the  highly  civilized  Roman.  The  latter  had  their  laws  of  adoptimi  ;  an, I  the  citi- 
jjen  who  was  mude  prisoner  in  war,  was  held  during  his  captivity,  to  be  etri/i'er  nior/utM.  The  right  .•s.-ert.-d  by 
both,  to  di*po-;e  of  the  life  or  liberty  of  the  prisoner  nt  p!<  vsure,  naturally  led  t,>  (lit-  identification  of  the  c<.iise- 
quences  <>f  death  and  captivity.  And  the  warlike  habits  and  polity  of  boti;,  may  have  introduced  doctrines  which, 
were  calculated  to  make  death  more  tolerable  than  submission  to  an  enemy,  \\ith  the  -ava-resof  North  America, 
this  notion  is  pushed  to  such  an  extreme,  that  the  man  who  submits  to  be  made  prisoner,  can  only  atone  to  lii.i 
disgraced  family  and  nation,  by  submitting  to  torture.  Their  constancy,  in  this  respect,  is  unparalleled  In  the- 
kistory  of  num.  And  such  is  the  contempt  of  death,  which  their  whole  education  is  i.:.lcul:i!v:i  to  cherish,  that  it 
ceases  to  be  a  punishment.  Maiming,  beating,  and  even  putting  to  death  the  dearest  objects  nf  natural  affection, 
lire  resorted  to  in  their  civil  policy,  to  prevent  criiae.  The  taking  of  life  is  most  ge.ierplly  delegated  to  th» 
*  Avenger  of  Blot's!  ;"  until  the  crimes  of  the  whole  nation  ar«  washed  away,  in  the  annual  jubilee. 


APPENDIX  C.  $1, 

«f  the  hunter,  extended  its  ravages  over  the  whole  country.  The  mortality  was  dreadful,  and  the 
only  remedy  known  to  these  simple  sons  of  the  forest  (that  of  sweating  in  an  oven,  constructed  of 
•with  or  stones,  and  then  plunging  into  a  river)  contributed  not  a  little  to  increase  the  destruction  of 
human  life.  Yet  it  was  but  littln  worse  than  the  treatment  prescribed  at  the  sametime,  by  the  disciples 
of  Galen  and  Hypocrites.  This  depopulation  was  rapidly  hastened  by  their  connexion  with  tbr 
whites;  as  additional  cause  and  motives  were  furnished  for  hostility,  by  the  new  wants  and  new  habits 
then  introduced  among  them.  <  . 

At  first,  the  animals  of  the  forest  were  pursued  only  for  food  and  clothing.  For  these  purposes 
*  moderate  district  of  country,  would  supply  the  necessary  consumption,  whilst  the  toil  in  the  pur- 
•uit,  was  greatly  enhanced  by  the  de'ectiveness  of  the  only  weapons  then  known  to  them.  But 
irh-en  skins  became  an  article  of  commerce,  and  the  means  of  procuring  intoxicating  liquors,  blanket* 
and  fire  amis,  the  cupidity  of  the  savage  could  not  be  confined  to  his  own  hunting  grounds,  or  the 
fruits  of  the  chase.  Anxious  to  make  experiment  of  his  new  weapons  on  man,  he  possessed 
himself  of  the  articles  of  commerce  by  violence,  whilst  he*  triumphed  in  the  temporary  enjoyment  of 
his  newly  acquired  superiority.  New  broils  ensued;  retaliation  was  provoked;  the  hunting  grounds  of 
neighbouring  nations  invaded ;  ami  universal  war  and  bloodshed  ensued.  The  natural  efiects  of 
intemperance  and  the  frequent  repetiton  of  the  ravages  of  the  small  pox,  combined  to  hasten  the 
dimunition  of  their  numbers ;  and  famine  also  now  found  its  way  into  the  country. 

The  Indian  was  not  at  that  time  the  degraded  being  that  he  is  at  present.  All  the  early  visitors 
of  this  coast,  acknowledged  that  they  found  the  natives  civil,  respectful  and  hospitable.  They  lived 
in  comparative  plenty,  evey  where  cultivating  maize  and  pulse,  which,  until  the  introduction  of 
domestic  animals  was  easily  done  without  fe  icing.  It  is  even  asserted,  that  they  had  then  amon^ 
them  an  art  since  altogether  lost,  that  of  weaving  cloth.  Jean  Ribaut  found  them  in  possession  of 
it  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Beaufort,  whether  of  their  own  manufactuing,  or  how  obtained,  is  not 
mentioned.  They  may  have  obtained  it  from  Mexico.  The  Natchez  Nation  is  known  to  have 
emigrated  from  that  country,  or  furnished  inhabitants  to  it. 

At  that  tune,  the  fruits  of  the  toil  of  the  hunter,  were  faithfully  brought  home  to  add  to  the 
comforts  of  his  family  ;  whilst  the  women  and  children  attended  to  the  labours  of  the  field.  This 
is  a  literal  compliance,  with  the  contract  of  marriage,  symbolically  entered  into  by  the  sexes.  The 
woman  presents  an  ear  of  corn,  and  the  man  a  piece  of  venison.  Whilst  they  remained  uncor- 
rupted,  there  was  a  scrupulous  attention  paid  to  social  duties.  But,  the  cc.-*e  was  soon  altered  upon 
their  connexion  with  the  whites.  The  man  consumed  the  fruits  of  the  ch.ise,  in  the  purchase  or 
his  favourite  beverage  ;  and  even  the  women  \voiil'  expend  the  fruits  of  their  labours  in  the  "-ratifi 
cation  of  the  same  pestiferous  habit,  whilst  their  children  were  left  to  starve  and  die  ;  or  were 
at  length,  sold  to  obtain  these  gratifications.  A  total  depravity  of  character  was  the  necessary  con 
sequence  of  contracting  snr'i  habits  ;  and  a  check  to  the  natural  increase  of  the  species,  could  uot 
but  ensue  from  their  general  prevalence,  and  the  uhlicuUy  of  subsistence  consequent  upon  it. 

Another  and  most  fatal  cause  of  this  depopulation  was,  the  practice  of  reducing  Indians  to  a  state 
t»f  slavery ;  a  practice  which,  it  is  believed,  h:u>  prevailed  in  every  colony  from  north  to  south 
with  the  exception  of  Pennsylvania  and  Rhode  Island. 

In  South  Carolina,  it  certainly  did  prevail  on  a  very  extensive  scale.  The  proprietors  repeatedly 
luTecteci  to  express  great  disgust  at  this  practice,  and  to  discourage  it ;  but,  it  is  demonstrable,  that 
the  principle  was  introduced  by  themselves  ;  nor  was  the  practice,  for  many  years,  discountenanced. 
They  ;n-tde  provision  in  their  fundamental  constitutions,  for  the  introduction  of  negro  slaves  into 
their  cr.lonies  ;  and  what  are  the  grounds  upon  which  that  measure  was  justified  ? — saving  the  prir 
soner  from  being  sacrificed,  and  forcing  him  to  a  country  illuiu'med.  by  the  light  of  the  gospel  ! 


5U  APPENDIX  C. 

Those  specious  reasons  were  too  applicable  to  th?  case  of  the  Indians,  not  to  be  greedily  seirrct 
Upon  by  the  Colonists.  Thus,  we  find,  that  as  early  as  ifi  >0,  'tV-^-t,  twice  appointed  governor 
is  charged  with  dealing  largely  in  Indian  slaves.  James  Moore,  a!.--,  another  governor,  is  said  to 
have  stocked  his  plantation  with  Indian  slaves  in  17<X),  in  an  expeditiuii,  which  he  comn.anded 
against  the  Indians.  Several  of  the  proprietor's  deputies  and  com,,  cllors,  also,  were  convicted  of 
the  same  offence  at  that  time,  and  degraded  for  it.*  An  extensive  trade,  it  seems,  was  then  car 
ried  on  between  Carolina  and  Barbados,  in  the  sale  of  Indian  slaves  ;  and  as  Yeomans,  the  second 
governor  of  the  province,  opened  that  commerce  with  Bnrbadoes,  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  first 
originated  this  nefarious  traffic.  The  subjects  of  it,  were  either  taken  in  war  by  the  colonists  tiiem- 
'  selves;  or  kidnapped  or  purchased  from  Indians,  who  were  encouraged  to  procure  them  by  arms 
or  stratagem.  How  prone  is  the  human  mind,  to  deceive  itself  by  sophistry  and  casuistry  !  Were 
these  unhappy  men  to  receive  instruction  from  the  lives  of  the-r  enslavers  ?  Could  they  respect 
the  God  of  the  colonists  ?  or,  was  it  a  favour  conferred  on  the  children,  to  save  them  from  the 
tomahawk,  when  their  parents  had  been  sacrificed  to  it,  in  order  to  take  the  children  captive  ! 

This  is  the  great  and  true  cause  why  the  native  Indian  has  become  the  irreconcilable  enemy  of 

,the  North  American  colonists.  Death  he  does  not  fear — all  other  ills  he  may  be  reconciled  to  bear  ; 
but,  he  who  deprives  him  or  his  offspring,  of  the  rights  of  ranging  the  forest,  free  as  the  air  he 
breathes,  or  compels  him  to  submit  to  the  disgrace  of  labour,  (for  in  his  estimation,  it  is  degrading 
to  the  warrior)  wounds  the  most  sensible  nerve  in  his  system — it  is  national  insult — individual  de 
gradation.  And  hence,  that  people  never  have  been,  and  perhaps  never  will  be,  willing  to  receive  in 
struction  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  states.  Their  national  animosities  are  faithfully  transmitted  through 
their  women,  and  are  among  the  first  lessons  inculcated  on  the  infant  mind.  It  is  more  than 

*!  probable  also,  that  the  same  cause  produced  those  hereditary  animosities  which  existed  among  the 
native  tribes.  We  have  the  evidence  of  Laudonniere,  who  succeeded  Ribaut  in  the  French  attempt 
at  coloni/ing  this  country,  for  asserting,  that  it  was  the  national  practice,  in  his  time,  to  put  the  men 
to  death,  and  make  slaves  of  the  women  and  children  of  their  enemies.  Whether  the  present 

•  practice  of  murderincr  and  scalping  indiscriminately,  has  in  any  measure  resulted  from  the  extinction 
of  the  trade  in  Indian  slaves,  is  not  easily  determined.  But,  the  colonists  made  slaves  of  the  men 
also  ;  and  of  many  who  were  kidnapped,  not  taken  in  war  ;  and  this  was  in  the  view  of  the 
Indian,  an  intolerable  aggravation  of  the  offence.  Add  to  this  cause,  the  continual  advances  by 
conquest  or  purchases  that  the  colonists  had  been  making  upon  them  for  near  one  hundred  years 
back ;  and  the  contimiiu*  deceptions  and  impositions  the  Indians  sustain  from  the  traders  who  go 
amon"  them,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  were  hostile  to  the  colonists. 

Several  circumstances  contributed  to  attach  them  to  the  royal  government.  When  the  revolu 
tion  took  place  in  1719,  the  colonists  advanced  their  arch  enemy,  James  .Moore,  to  the  governor's 
chair,  in  which  he  was  superceded  by  Nicholson,  as  royal  governor.  The  latter  gentleman  paid 
particular  attention  to  the  interests  of  the  Indians.  And,  by  the  establishment  of  an  Indian  agent, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  watch  over  their  interests  and  protect  them  from  impositions,  whilst  he  also 
gratified  them  with  the  distribution  of  annual  presents  in  the  name  of  the  king;  they  were  taught 
to  look  up  to  the  king  as  their  protector,  while  they  regarded  the  colonists  as  their  natural  enemies. 
John  Stewart  was  the  Indian  agent  at  the  commencement  of  the  revolution  ;  and  his  influence 

,  was  successfully  employed  in  bringing  upon  the  back  settlements  of  the  colony,  a  most  murderous 
invasion  in  the  year  177").  I'  was  made,  as  has  been  noticed,  in  concert  with  the  attack  upon 


•Olihniion,  vol.  1st  p.  310. 


APPENDIX  C.  515 

Fort  Moultrie  in  that  year ;  and  in  one  night,  near  four  hundred  men,  women  and  children,  sunk 
under  the  tomahawk.  But,  the  unfortunate  beings  were  macle  to  pay  dearly  in  the  sequel,  for  lis 
tening  to  their  savage  employers.  They  were  pursued  by  the  militia,  under  Colonel  Williamson  of 
South,  and  Colonel  Rutherford  of  North  Carolina  ;  many  of  them  were  destroyed,  and  their  coun 
try,  for  several  hundred  miles,  made  desolate.  This  chastisement  kept  them  quiet  for  several  years ; 
nor  did  they  again  recommence  their  ravages  until  about  the  period  of  General  Greene's  arrival  in 
South  Carolina.  Yet,  parties  of  them  were  made  use  of  by  Colonel  Provost,  Colonel  Brown,  and 
other  British  commanders.  With  the  exception  of  the  Catawbas,  they  had  now  been  driven  far 
from  the  principal  theatre  of  the  war,  but  were  decidedly  attached  to  the  royal  cause,  and  so  will 
always  be  to  the  nation  that  will  give  them  the  most  ruin  and  gunpowder.  The  poor  remains  of 
the  Catawbas,  (their  wide  extended  domain)  now  reduced  to  ten  miles  square,  on  the  borders  of  North 
and  South  Carolina,  had  taken  up  arms  in  the  American  favour,  and  shared  the  fortune  of  Gates  j 
but,  the  powerful  and  hostile  nations  beyond  the  mountains,  frequently  repeated  their  bloody 
inroads,  in  small  paities  along  the  frontier,  and  kept  the  militia  always  on  the  alert,  to  guard  their 
scattered  habitations  from  sudden  incursions. 


END  OF  VOLUME  FIRST. 


ERRATA  TO  VOL.  1st. 


PAGE. 

3 

3 

6 

35 

59 

68 

62 

85 

189 

399 

206 

209 

210 

239 

251 

253 

275 

284 


LIXE. 

36  of  Preface,  expunge  (.)  after  monarchy. 
24  for  nerve,  read    nerves. 

32  •     implement*; 

1    --is, 
17 
36 
28 


21 
7 
2 

17 
6 
8 

31 

14 
3 

22 
3 
3 


implement 
are 

apprehension, 
author, 
reliqutse. 
westward, 
right, 
reduction, 
support!. 
not  learned, 
appears. 
tcell  known. 
per  feu  et  nefca. 
whom. 

tea*  before  passed. 
•  •    as  after  well 
(el passim)  rend  Suiater/or  Sum^ter. 


apprehension*, 

writer, 

reliquae, 

eastward, 

east, 

rfei/mction, 

support, 

learned, 

appear, 

known,  < 

perfasetnefas 

them, 


PAGE 

289 
319 
358 
360 
374 
399 
425 
426 
437 
446 
459 
479 
480 
482 
435 
491 
499 
5iO 


LI5E. 
2 

6/or 
28   •• 

26  .. 
33 

33  •• 
21   - 
21 
30  •• 

27  • 
1   •• 

37  •• 
23  •• 

1   •• 
13  •- 

5   •• 
39 
35  •• 


insert  lico  most,  before  southern. 
American*,    read     American. 
him,  ••     them, 

pl.an,  ••     place. 

after  hare,    ••     of  en. 
Davie,  ••     Davie*. 

exhilarating,     ••     exhilarating 

insert  (.)  after  field. 
Carolina*,    read     Carol  in  i'a;ur. 
to,  •  •     of. 


preserve, 
1665, 
but, 

sepulf/ir?, 
constitute, 
effort, 


persevere. 
1565. 

not 

sepulture, 
contribute, 
escort. 


omit,  at  Charlotte. 
assimulate,  read    assimilate. 


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